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 Agency¹s 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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