The eight FLAMES pointings marked on a density map of the underlying Gaia source catalogue of the SMC (with G < 19 mag) as a function of right ascension (α) and declination (δ) (darkest pixels correspond to ≈900 stars). The green rings correspond to the FLAMES FoVs, which are 25′ in diameter. The 929 targets are shown as blue and pink dots based on their estimated initial masses (see legend and text). We note that the regions most densely populated with stars in the SMC (e.g. the bar) are not rich in massive stars, and hence only a few fields were allocated there.