The BepiColombo spacecraft, Europe’s first mission to Mercury, is keeping cool before launch in the equatorial heat of ESA’s spaceport in French Guiana. After arriving in May from ESA’s technical Centre in The Netherlands, the spacecraft has been undergoing a series of ongoing pre-launch health checks. These include mechanical, electrical and propulsion subsystems checks, testing the deployment of its solar panels, and covering the spacecraft in a multi-layered insulation blanket to protection against solar and planetary radiation.

The A and B-roll includes interviews with Hajime Hayakawa, BepiColombo Project Manager, JAXA (English and Japanese); Ulrich Reininghaus, Bepicolombo Project Manager, ESA (English and German); Bernard Guillaume, BepiColombo Assembly Integration and Verification, ESA (French and Dutch, B-roll only).