Thales Alenia Space Carries Out Final Bepicolombo Tests, In Preparation for 2018 Mission to Explore Mercury

The European spacecraft BepiColombo is currently undergoing final testing in launch configuration, prior to being shipped to the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana next March for a scheduled October 2018 launch. It is built by Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor, with Thales Alenia Space (the 67/33 joint venture between Thales and Leonardo) as major subcontractor, in charge of assembly integration and testing (AIT).

Thales Alenia Space recently completed the latest acoustic and vibration tests at the ESTEC test center in the Netherlands, qualifying the complete Mercury Composite Spacecraft in launch configuration, and showing that it will stand up to the structural loads expected during the Ariane 5 launch.

BepiColombo is Europe's first mission to Mercury, the smallest and least explored terrestrial planet in our Solar System. When it arrives at Mercury in late 2025, it will face temperatures exceeding 350°C. BepiColombo will gather data during a nominal mission lasting one year, with a possible one-year extension. It actually comprises two spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). BepiColombo is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), under ESA leadership.

“Thales Alenia Space is very proud to make such a significant contribution to this very ambitious joint program, clearly demonstrating our ability to work with a large industrial consortium on a cornerstone mission for space exploration,” said Walter Cugno, Vice President, Exploration and Science at Thales Alenia Space. “We have been a key partner in a number of major international space exploration missions for the last two decades and more, reflecting our technological excellence, as well as our ability to rise to new  challenges and further our understanding of the Universe.”

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