BepiColombo Planetary Orbiter Payload Selection
18 November 2004
With the approval of the Solar System Working Group (SSWG), Solar System Advisory Committee (SSAC) and Science Programme Committee (SPC), the selected payload for the Mercury Planetary Orbiter now enters the final stages of the definition phase.On 26 February 2004, ESA issued the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) payload request for proposals. On 15 May 2004 the proposals were received and evaluated by the international Payload Review Committee (PRC), assisted by the ESTEC teams and the industrial definition study contractors.
The PRC issued its final recommendation with a proposed payload selection and presented this to the SSWG on 12 - 13 October and to the SSAC on 19 - 20 October. Both the SSWG and SSAC have approved the proposed MPO payload selection.
The Science Programme Committee, during its meeting on 9 - 10 November 2004, unanimously approved the proposed payload complement and this selection will now be taken by the project team for the finalisation of the definition phase and for the implementation phase.
Selected MPO payload
| Name | Payload | Responsible | |
| BELA1 | Laser Altimeter | Co-PIs | |
| N.Thomas Physikalisches Institut University of Bern Switzerland |
T. Spohn DLR Inst. fur Planetenforschung Berlin Germany | ||
| ISA | Radio science ACC: accelerometer | PI V. Iafolla CNR-IFSI Rome Itlay | |
| MERMAG | Magnetometer | PI A. Balogh The Blackett Laboratory Imperial College London UK |
Deputy PI C.M. Carr The Blackett Laboratory Imperial College London UK |
| MERTIS-TIS | IR spectrometer | PI E.K. Jessberger Institut fur Planetologie University Munster Germany | |
| MGNS or MANGA2 |
Gamma ray and neutron spectrometer | PI I. Mitrofanov Institute for Space Research Moscow Russia | |
| PI C. d'Uston CESR Toulouse France |
Co-PIs N. Hasebe Waseda University Tokyo Japan G. Klingelhofer Johannes-Gutenberg-Univers. Mainz Germany | ||
| MIXS | X-ray spectrometer | PI S. Dunkin Space Science & Technology Department CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Lab. Chilton UK |
Co-PI K. Muinonen Observatory Univ. of Helsinki Finland |
| MORE | Radio science Ka-band transponder |
PI L. Iess University of Rome "La Sapienza" Italy | |
| PHEBUS | UV spectrometer | PI E. Chassefiere SA/IPSL Universite P&M Curie Paris France |
Co-PIs S. Okano Planetary Plasma & Atmospheric Research Center Tohoku University Sendai Japan O. Korablev IKI Moscow Russia |
| SERENA | Neutral and ionised particle analyser | PI S. Orsini CNR-IFSI Rome Italy |
Co-PIs S. A. Livi Johns Hopkins University Applied Physical Lab. Laurel USA S. Barabash Swedish Inst.of Space Physics (IRF) Kiruna Sweden K. Torkar Space Research Institute Austrian Academy of Sciences Graz Austria |
| SIMBIO-SYS | High resolution + stereo camerasVisual and NIR spectrometer | PI E. Flamini Italian Space Agency Rome Italy |
Co-PIs F. Capaccioni INAF-IASF Rome Italy L. Colangeli INAF-Osserv.Astronomico di Capodimonte Napoli Italy G. Cremonese INAF-Osserv. Astronomico di Padova Italy A. Doressoundiram LESIA-Obs. de Paris Meudon France O. Forni Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) Orsay France J. L. Josset SPACE-X Space Exploration Neuchatel Switzerland |
| SIXS | Solar monitor | PI J. Huovelin Observatory-Univ. of Helsinki Finland |
Co-PI M. Grande Space Science & Technol. Dept. CCLR-Rutherford Appleton Lab. Chilton UK |
Table Notes
1The feasibility of the laser altimeter has to be demonstrated before November 2005, after which BELA can then be confirmed as part of the payload.
2For the gamma-ray spectrometer there are two proposals (MGNS or MANGA). Both proposals present technical risks and the feasibility have to be demonstrated before November 2005. The MGNS, which has the lower impact on resources, is the preferred solution, and it will be confirmed as part of the payload if its feasibility is confirmed.