BepiColombo MTM Thermal Balance/Thermal Vacuum Test

摘要

The BepiColombo satellite is Europe's mission to Mercury. The mission consists of a spinning satellite “Mercury Magnetosphaeric Orbiter” (MMO) provided by JAXA and a 3 axis stabilized “Mercury Polar Orbiter” (MPO) provided by ESA. A dedicated “Mercury Transport Module” (MTM) provides the transfer from Earth to Mercury by means of solar electric propulsion. The Mission is led by Airbus Friedrichshafen who is has taken over thermal design responsibility from Airbus Stevenage. The MTM TB/TV test is performed with solar simulation up to 8SC in ESA’s large space simulator (LSS) in November 2017. Thermal balance test phases are conducted to verify mainly the heater layout and heat rejection capability of CPS elements (thrusters, pipes). The general thermal design has been already verified by a STM solar sim test performed in 2013. Thermal vacuum test phases include the functional verification of the ion thruster propulsion. This is achieved by activation of the high voltage on the acceleration grids and a separate release of Xenon. Stringent pressure requirements in the chamber and inside the S/C present a challenge to the execution of those test phases. This paper reports on the test performed. It includes test setup, modelling of the test setup and a quick evaluation of the test results.