The European Space Agency (ESA) said the £282m device was put into space in the early hours of Monday morning to gauge the impact of climate change on the movement of water across land, air and sea.
It was lifted into space on a Russian Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia.
As the first space-based measure of the water in Earth's soil and the saltiness of its oceans, scientists hope SMOS will be able to fill important gaps in our knowledge about the planet's vital water cycle.
It could also help develop more accurate weather forecasts.
Yann Kerr, scientific director of the SMOS mission, said: "Climate change is a fact, but its impact on precipitation, evaporation, surface runoff and flood risks is still uncertain.
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