ESA gives go-ahead to build BepiColombo (Forwarded)

ESA News
http://www.esa.int

26 February 2007

ESA gives go-ahead to build BepiColombo

BepiColombo, ESA's mission to explore planet Mercury, has been definitively
'adopted' by the Agencys Science Programme Committee (SPC) last Friday. The
mission will now start its industrial implementation phase, to prepare for
launch in August 2013.

BepiColombo is the next European planetary exploration project, and will be
implemented in collaboration with Japan. A satellite 'duo' -- consisting of
an orbiter for planetary investigation and one for magnetospheric studies --
will reach Mercury after a six-year journey towards the inner Solar System,
to eventually perform the most extensive and detailed study of the planet
ever performed so far.

The 'Mercury Planetary Orbiter' (MPO) will be under ESA responsibility,
while the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) will be under the
responsibility of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Mercury
Transfer Module (MTM), also under ESA responsibility, will provide the
electrical and chemical propulsion required to perform the cruise to
Mercury. These three modules assembled together for the launch and cruise
phase make up a single composite spacecraft.

The MPO will carry a highly sophisticated suite of eleven scientific
instruments, ten of which will be provided by Principal Investigators
through national funding by ESA Member States and one from Russia.

The MMO will carry five advanced scientific experiments that will also be
provided by nationally funded Principal investigators, one European and four
from Japan. Significant European contributions are also provided to the
Japanese instruments.

After a competitive definition phase started in 2001, ESA is now ready to
award Astrium GmbH (Friedrichshafen, Germany) with the prime contract for
the BepiColombo implementation phase, consisting of the mission design and
of the design, development and integration of the 'cruise-composite'
spacecraft. Astrium GmbH will also provide engineering support to the launch
campaign and the in-orbit commissioning phase.

Reaching Mercury and placing a spacecraft in a stable orbit around it is a
difficult task due to the gravity of the Sun. BepiColombo will reach the
planet -- visited only by NASA's Mariner 10 in the mid seventies -- in a
truly novel way.

During the cruise, the mission will make clever use of the gravity of the
Moon, Earth, Venus and Mercury itself in combination with the thrust
provided by solar-electric propulsion. This innovative combination of low
thrust space propulsion and gravity assist has been demonstrated by ESA's
technology mission, SMART-1.

When approaching Mercury, the transfer module will be separated and the
two-spacecraft composite will use conventional rocket engines and the
so-called 'weak stability boundary capture technique' to bring it into polar
orbit around the planet. When the MMO orbit is reached, the MPO will
separate and lower its altitude by means of chemical propulsion to its
operational orbit. Observations from orbit will go on for at least one Earth
year.

Operating a spacecraft in the harsh environment of Mercury represents a true
technological challenge. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and the
direct solar radiation hitting the spacecraft is about ten times more
intense than in Earth's proximity.

Furthermore Mercury's surface, whose temperature can reach up to 470 C, not
only reflects solar radiation but also emits thermal infrared radiation.
Therefore, the probe will have to withstand extreme thermal conditions.

This will be one of the driving factors in the probe's design -- for
instance, it will drive the design of the multi-layer blanket to insulate
the spacecraft and of its heat radiators.

Note for editors

On ESA's behalf, Astrium GmbH (Germany) is prime contractor for the
procurement of the entire 'cruise- composite' spacecraft. Furthermore it
provides the design and development of the attitude and orbit control
subsystem, and the integration of the engineering model. Alcatel Alenia
Space Italy (AAS-I) will be the co-prime contractor for the development of
the MPO electrical power, thermal control and communications systems and for
the integration and test activities. In the UK, EADS Astrium Ltd is co-prime
contractor for the electrical and chemical propulsion system as well as the
complete MPO spacecraft structure. EADS Astrium in France will develop the
on-board software on the basis of the in-orbit spacecraft Rosetta, Mars
Express and Venus Express.

Further to the MPO, ESA is also responsible for the whole mission design,
for the launch with a Soyuz Fregat vehicle from Kourou, French Guyana, and
for the cruise operations up to the insertion of the MPO and MMO into their
dedicated orbits planned in 2019. Finally, ESA is responsible for the
mission and scientific operations of the MPO in its orbit around Mercury.

For more information:

Jan van Casteren, ESA BepiColombo Project Manager
Email: jan.van.casteren @ esa.int

Hermann Opgenoorth, ESA BepiColombo Project Scientist
Email: hermann opgenoorth @ rssd.esa.int

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