The Bepicolombo ESA cornerstone mission to mercury

摘要

The ESA BepiColombo Mercury Cornerstone mission will be launched in 2009. The current baseline foresees 3 scientific elements (2 orbiters and a lander), to be launched by two Soyuz/Fregat vehicles for Baikonur, and chemical and solar electrical propulsion modules. The scientific elements are a Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), a Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) and a Mercury Surface Element (MSE). The MMO segment of The mission will be contributed by ISAS of Japan. An Alternative launch configuration foresees a single launch On an Ariane 5 from Kourou.