Mercury Planetary Orbiter at the Spaceport

The Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) of the BepiColombo mission during launch preparations at Europe’s Spaceport.

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission consists of two science orbiters – the Japanese Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) and ESA’s MPO – and the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), which will use solar electric propulsion to take the two orbiters to the Mercury, along with gravity assist flybys at Earth, Venus and Mercury itself.

The spacecraft is covered in hand-sewn insulation blankets that will protect it from the extreme thermal conditions it will experience during the mission.