BepiColombo
Artist's depiction of the BepiColombo mission, with the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (top) and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (bottom left).
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| Mission type | Planetary science |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA · JAXA |
| Website | sci |
| Mission duration | Planned: 1+ year |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | EADS Astrium · ISAS |
| Launch mass | 4,100 kg (9,000 lb) |
| BOL mass | MPO: 1,150 kg (2,540 lb) MMO: 275 kg (606 lb) |
| Power | MPO: 150 W MMO: 90 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | Planned: October 2018 |
| Rocket | Ariane 5 ECA |
| Launch site | Guiana Space Centre |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| Mercury orbiter | |
| Spacecraft component | Mercury Planetary Orbiter |
| Orbital insertion | Planned: 5 December 2025 |
| Orbit parameters | |
| Perihermion | 480 km (300 mi) |
| Apohermion | 1,500 km (930 mi) |
| Inclination | 90° |
| Mercury orbiter | |
| Spacecraft component | Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter |
| Orbital insertion | Planned: 5 December 2025 |
| Orbit parameters | |
| Perihermion | 590 km (370 mi) |
| Apohermion | 11,640 km (7,230 mi) |
| Inclination | 90° |
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ESA solar system insignia for the BepiColombo mission
BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites to be launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The mission will perform a comprehensive study on Mercury, including its magnetic field, magnetosphere, interior structure and surface. It is scheduled to launch in October 2018, with an arrival at Mercury planned for December 2025, after a flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and six flybys of Mercury. The mission was approved in February 2007, after years in proposal and planning as part of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000+ program; it will be the last mission of the program to be launched.
BepiColombo is named after Giuseppe "Bepi" Colombo (1920–1984), a scientist, mathematician and engineer at the University of Padua, Italy, who first implemented the interplanetary gravity-assist manoeuvre during the 1974 Mariner 10 mission, a technique now commonly used by planetary probes.
The mission involves three components:
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