ESA Science & Technology - Sewing MTM insulation blankets

The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission at Europe's Spaceport undergoing intense preparations for launch. Here, sewing of the insulation blankets on ESA's Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) is taking place. The insulation is to protect the spacecraft from the extreme thermal conditions that will be experienced during the mission.

The MTM will use solar electric propulsion to take the mission's two orbiters to Mercury, along with gravity assist flybys at Earth, Venus and Mercury itself.