The BepiColombo European spacecraft, built by Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor, is undergoing final functional tests at the Thales Alenia Space plant in Turin, Italy. It will be shipped to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Research and Technology Center in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, to start environmental tests.
BepiColombo is a joint mission between ESA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA. The primary goal of this ambitious mission is a detailed study of the planet Mercury and its environment. The launch is scheduled for mid-2016 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, using an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Thales Alenia Space is part of the Core Team, and coordinates 35 European companies on the work package under its responsibility. In particular, the company is in charge of the telecommunications, thermal control and electric power distribution systems, along with integration and testing of the satellite and support services for the launch campaign.
Thales Alenia Space is supplying the X-band and Ka-band transponders, onboard computer, mass memory and the high-gain antenna, a 1.1 m dish used for satellite-ground communications, as well as for the mission's radio science experiment. This antenna is derived from the antenna developed for the highly successful Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. The Italian space agency and industry are also making a significant contribution to the mission, with responsibility for four out of the 11 experiments.
“BepiColombo is one of the most ambitious missions planned by ESA, and has required the development of special technologies to deal with the severe conditions on Mercury,” said Elisio Prette, Chairman and CEO of Thales Alenia Space Italia. “We are proud to have reached this significant program milestone, clearly reflecting our ability to meet very daunting technology challenges, even for space exploration. Thales Alenia Space, working through the Italian, European and American space agencies, has made a significant contribution to major international space exploration missions for the last two decades and more. Our contributions reflect the company's high level of technological expertise, bolstering our leadership and establishing our position as a world-class supplier for advanced space programs."