NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

BepiColombo

Launch Time
Sat Oct 20, 2018 01:45 UTC

Flight VA245. First European mission to Mercury.

Rocket

Ariane 5 ECA
Image Credit: Arianespace
Arianespace
Status: Retired
Price: $200.0 million
Liftoff Thrust: 15,120 kN
Payload to LEO: 21,000 kg
Payload to GTO: 10,500 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 2
Rocket Height: 53.0 m
Fairing Diameter: 5.4 m
Fairing Height: 17.0 m

Mission Details

BepiColombo

BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites to be launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, MMO). The mission will perform a comprehensive study of Mercury, including its magnetic field, magnetosphere, interior structure, and surface. It is scheduled for arrival at Mercury in December 2025, after a flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and six flybys of Mercury. The mission was approved in November 2009, after years of proposal and planning as part of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000+ program; it will be the last mission of the program to be launched.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 4,241.0 kg
Heliocentric Orbit

Location

ELA-3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

Stats

2018

81st orbital launch attempt

Arianespace

262nd mission
7th mission of 2018
253rd successful mission
6th consecutive successful mission

Ariane 5

101st mission
5th mission of 2018
96th successful mission
4th consecutive successful mission