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Space Shuttle signals received at the ESA Control Center in Darmstadt, Germany via the New Norcia ground tracking station at 2h21 GMT confirmed the successful launch.
BepiColombo, a joint venture between ESA and JAXA, is the first European mission on Mercury and the first to send two spacecraft to carry out complementary measurements of the planet and its dynamic environment.
"The launch of BepiColombo is a milestone for ESA and JAXA, and many successes will be forthcoming," said Jan Wörner, general manager of ESA. "Beyond this difficult journey, this mission will bring enormous scientific wealth, thanks to the international collaboration and decades of effort and know-how of all those involved in the design and construction of this incredible machine that way to investigate the mysteries of the Mercury planet, "said Worner, quoted by the ESA.
His Japanese counterpart, Hiroshi Yamakawa, president of JAXA, also welcomed the successful launch. Yamakawa said, "JAXA is very hopeful that the detailed observations that will come out of it on the surface and inside of Mercury will help us better understand the planet's environment and ultimately its origin. of the solar system, including that of the Earth. "
BepiColombo includes two scientific orbiters: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) of ESA and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO, or Mio) of the JAXA. The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) built by ESA will transport the orbiters to Mercury using a combination of solar powered electric overflights and gravitational badistance, with an overflight of the Earth , two to Venus and six to Mercury, before entering orbit at Mercury late 2025.
The two orbiters will also be able to use some of their instruments during the cruise phase, providing unique opportunities to collect scientifically useful data from Venus. In addition, some of the instruments designed to study mercury in a particular way can be used in a completely different way in Venus, whose atmosphere is thick with respect to the exposed surface of Mercury.
"BepiColombo is one of the most complex interplanetary missions we have ever conducted," said Andrea Accomazzo, Director of Flight at ESA BepiColombo. "One of the biggest challenges is the enormous gravity of the Sun, which makes it difficult to put a spacecraft into stable orbit around Mercury. We have to brake constantly to ensure a controlled fall towards the Sun, ionic thrusters providing the small thrust needed over long periods of the cruising phase. "
Among other challenges, there is the extreme temperature environment that the spacecraft will endure, ranging from -180ºC to over 450ºC – hotter than a pizza oven. Many of the spacecraft's outer mechanisms and coatings had not yet been tested under such conditions. The overall design of the three spacecraft modules also reflects the intense conditions they will face. The large solar modules of the transfer module must be angled at right angles to avoid radiation damage, while providing sufficient energy to the spacecraft. On the DFO, the wide radiator allows the spacecraft to effectively evacuate the heat of its subsystems, reflect the heat and fly over the planet at lower altitudes than ever before. Eight-sided Mio will spin 15 times per minute to evenly distribute the sun's heat on its solar panels to prevent overheating.
A few months before arriving at Mercury, the transfer module will be dropped, leaving the two scientific orbiters – still connected one to the other – to be captured by the gravity of Mercury. Their altitude will be adjusted using MPO thrusters until they reach the desired elliptical polar orbit by MMO. Then, MPO will separate and descend on its own orbit using its thrusters. Together, the orbiters will perform measurements that will reveal the planet's internal structure, the nature of the surface, and the evolution of geological features – including ice in the shaded craters of the planet – and the interaction between the planet and the solar wind.
"One of the unique aspects of this mission is the simultaneous monitoring of two spacecraft from two different locations: it is a key element to understanding the processes related to the spacecraft. impact of the solar wind on the surface of Mercury and its magnetic environment ", Johannes Benkhoff, scientist of the project BepiColombo of ESA.
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