Astrium to fly with BepiColombo

Astrium is set to build the Mercury probe BepiColombo on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA) following the signing of a contract worth €350.9m.

BepiColombo is scheduled to leave Earth in 2013 and is considered to be the most sophisticated scientific mission in the history of European space exploration to date.

BepiColombo will consist of three modules: a European orbiter, a Japanese orbiter and a transfer module carrying the two spacecraft to Mercury. The complete unit will have a height of approximately 5m and a mass of about three tonnes, of which about 50% is propellant.

The European ‘Mercury Planetary Orbiter’ (MPO) will be equipped with eleven scientific instruments. Flying in a polar orbit, it will study Mercury for at least a year, imaging the planet’s surface, generating height profiles, and collecting data on Mercury’s composition and atmosphere. The Japanese ‘Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter’ (MMO) will investigate the planet’s magnetic field with its five on-board instruments.