Mercury Transfer Module at the Spaceport
Date: 19 June 2018
Satellite: BepiColombo
Depicts: Mercury Transfer Module
Location: Kourou, French Guiana
Copyright: ESA - S. Corvaja
The Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) of the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission during launch preparations at Europe's Spaceport.
The MTM is one of the three modules of BepiColombo, along with the two science orbiters: the Japanese Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), and ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO). The MTM will use solar electric propulsion to take the two orbiters to Mercury, along with gravity assist flybys at Earth, Venus and Mercury itself.
BepiColombo is Europe's first mission to Mercury, due to launch this year on a journey to the smallest and least explored terrestrial planet in the inner Solar System. When it arrives at Mercury in late 2025, it will endure temperatures in excess of 350 °C.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
