News provided by the European Space Agency
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BepiColombo at MercuryArtist’s impression of the BepiColombo spacecraft at Mercury. The mission comprises ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (foreground) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (background).
The image of Mercury was taken by NASA’s Messenger spacecraft.
Credits: Spacecraft: ESA/ATG medialab; Mercury: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
BepiColombo in cruise configurationThe Mercury Transfer Module (foreground, with two large solar wings) carries the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (middle, with one solar wing pointing up) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (hidden inside the solar shield, on the far side) to Mercury.
Credits: ESA/ATG medialab
BepiColombo stackArtist’s impression of the BepiColombo ‘stack’ as seen from above. JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter can be seen inside the sunshield at the top of the stack, with ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter below. The Mercury Transfer Module is at the bottom.
Credits: ESA/ATG medialab
Mercury Planetary Orbiter – top viewESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter, with the Sun-facing side of the solar array (left) visible. The flat panel at the right is the radiator. The main instrument panel that faces towards Mercury is out of view in this orientation.
Credits: ESA/ATG medialab
Mercury Planetary Orbiter – bottom viewMercury Planetary Orbiter – bottom viewCredits: ESA/ATG medialab
Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, top viewJAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, with magnetometer mast and antennas visible. The spacecraft is shown from the side with a view of the top panel in this orientation.
Credits: ESA/ATG medialab
Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter – bottom viewJAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, with magnetometer mast and antennas visible. The spacecraft is shown with a view of the bottom panel in this orientation.
Credits: ESA/ATG medialab
BepiColombo exploded viewExploded view of the BepiColombo spacecraft components. From bottom to top these are: the Mercury Transfer Module, Mercury Planetary Orbiter, Sunshield and Interface Structure, and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter. The spacecraft are shown with solar arrays and instruments deployed.
Credits: ESA/ATG medialabMeet the fleet
New artist's views of the BepiColombo spacecraft that will be launched to Mercury in 2018
![[1/8] BepiColombo at Mercury](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/bepicolombo_at_mercury/16896418-3-eng-GB/BepiColombo_at_Mercury_latestnews.jpg)
![[2/8] BepiColombo in cruise configuration](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/bepicolombo_in_cruise_configuration/16896734-1-eng-GB/BepiColombo_in_cruise_configuration_latestnews.jpg)
![[3/8] BepiColombo stack](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/bepicolombo_stack/16896494-2-eng-GB/BepiColombo_stack_latestnews.jpg)
![[4/8] Mercury Planetary Orbiter – top view](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/mercury_planetary_orbiter_top_view/16896623-1-eng-GB/Mercury_Planetary_Orbiter_top_view_latestnews.jpg)
![[5/8] Mercury Planetary Orbiter – bottom view](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/mercury_planetary_orbiter_bottom_view/16896660-1-eng-GB/Mercury_Planetary_Orbiter_bottom_view_latestnews.jpg)
![[6/8] Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, top view](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/mercury_magnetospheric_orbiter_top_view/16896538-2-eng-GB/Mercury_Magnetospheric_Orbiter_top_view_latestnews.jpg)
![[7/8] Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter – bottom view](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/mercury_magnetospheric_orbiter_bottom_view/16896575-2-eng-GB/Mercury_Magnetospheric_Orbiter_bottom_view_latestnews.jpg)
![[8/8] BepiColombo exploded view](http://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2017/04/bepicolombo_exploded_view/16896697-2-eng-GB/BepiColombo_exploded_view_latestnews.jpg)