Glitch hampers bepicolombo mission to mercury

Written by Copernical Team Sunday, 19 May 2024 18:28

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Paris, France (SPX) May 20, 2024

BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, has experienced an issue that is preventing the spacecraft's thrusters from operating at full power. BepiColombo consists of two scientific probes and the Mercury Transfer Module, designed to separate during the mission's Mercury orbit insertion. The solar arrays and electric propulsion system on the Mercury Transfer Module generate

Glitch hampers bepicolombo mission to mercury
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) May 20, 2024

BepiColombo, the joint ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, has experienced an issue that is preventing the spacecraft's thrusters from operating at full power.

BepiColombo consists of two scientific probes and the Mercury Transfer Module, designed to separate during the mission's Mercury orbit insertion.

The solar arrays and electric propulsion system on the Mercury Transfer Module generate thrust for the spacecraft's journey from Earth to Mercury.

However, on 26 April, the Transfer Module failed to deliver enough electrical power to the spacecraft's thrusters.

A combined team from ESA and the mission's industrial partners set to work the moment the issue was identified. By 7 May, they had restored BepiColombo's thrust to approximately 90% of its previous level. The Transfer Module's power is still lower than needed, so full thrust cannot be restored.

The team's current priorities are to maintain stable spacecraft propulsion at the current power level and to estimate how this will affect upcoming manoeuvres. Work continues in parallel to identify the root cause of the issue and to maximise the power available to the thrusters.

The BepiColombo Flight Control Team at ESA's ESOC mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, has arranged additional ground station passes to monitor the spacecraft and react rapidly if needed.

If the current power level is maintained, BepiColombo should arrive at Mercury for its fourth gravity assist in September. Final orbit insertion at Mercury is scheduled for December 2025, with routine science operations starting in Spring 2026.

Updates will be shared as new information becomes available.

BepiColombo is a joint mission between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to Mercury, the least explored planet of the inner Solar System.

The mission features two scientific spacecraft, which will be inserted into different orbits around Mercury: ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. Both continue to perform excellently. Packed with scientific instruments, they are designed to study Mercury's composition, atmosphere, magnetosphere and history, and to address long-standing questions on the formation and evolution of our Solar System.