ESA Science & Technology - BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter Proto-Flight Model primary structure ready to be craned off its transporter in the loading bay at ESTEC

The BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) Proto-Flight Model (PFM) structure hardware arriving at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, in early December 2012. It has just travelled from the Stevenage (UK) facility of Astrium, where the chemical propulsion system and the network of surface heat pipes were integrated and tested. Thales Alenia Space will perform further integration of the spacecraft under the direction of the Prime Contractor, Astrium GmbH. The orbiter is packed in a specially built transport container that provided it with protection against vibration and shocks. The container is about to be lifted by crane from its transporter.