October 9, 2018

Organisation

BEPICOLOMBO GENERAL Organisation

ESA is prime contractor of the BEPICOLOMBO project in cooperation with Japan. JAXA is responsible for the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio). ESA is in charge of the rest of the project, i.e. the Mercury Polar Orbiter (MPO), launch, navigation towards Mercury and perihermian orbit injection of the probes.

CNES finances the BEPICOLOMBO project via its contribution to ESA's Mandatory Scientific Programme, and directly through a national programme, for the French participation to the instruments of the two orbiters (MPO and Mio). CNES, representing France before ESA's Science Programme Committee, is responsible for the French supplies.

CNES ensures, for all French participants (CNRS, University) the prime contractorship of the French contribution to BEPICOLOMBO. As such:

  • it funds the contributions of the French laboratories;
  • it oversees the developments of the French contributions;
  • if needed by laboratories, it provides support for quality insurance and mechanical, thermal, and component-related expertise;
  • it manages the interface with ESA and JAXA for technical and programmatic aspects;
  • it funds the French scientific activities.

French Contributions to the instruments of MIO payload

InstrumentNamePILaboratoryFrench ContributionCo-PI or Co-ILaboratory
Plasma wave measurement
instrument suite
PWI
5 instruments
WPanT
Search Coil
AM²P

MEFISTO
SORBET
H. MatsumotoKyoto University

drapeau Japon
Supply the axial fluxmeter of the Search CoilF. SahraouiLPP (France)
Supply AM²P instrument
(Active Measurement of Mercury's Plasma)
P. HenriLPC2E (France)
Supply SORBET instrument
(Radio Waves and Thermal Electrostatic Noise Spectroscopy)
M. MoncuquetLESIA (France)
Charged particle measurements
instrument suite
MPPE
5 instruments
MEA
MSA

SWA
HEP-e
HEP-i
Y. SaitoISAS-JAXA

drapeau Japon
Supply MEA instrument
(Electron spectra analyzer)
N. AndréIRAP (France)
Supply the Top-Hat electrostatic analyzer for MSA instrumentD. DelcourtLPP (France)

French Contributions to the instruments of MPO payload

InstrumentNamePILaboratoryFrench ContributionCo-PI or Co-ILaboratory
UV SpectrometerPHEBUSE. QuemeraisLATMOS
Drapeau France
Supply PHEBUS instrumentI. Yoshikawa
O. Korablev
Univ. Tohoku (Japan)
IKI (Russia)
Neutral and Ionized Particle Analyser Instrument suiteSERENA
4 instruments
ELENA
STROFIO
PICAM
MIPA
S. OrsiniIFSI

Drapeau Italie
ELENA HT Converter (Emitted Low-Energy Neutral Atoms)I. DandourasIRAP (France)
PICAM Time-Of-Flight detector and associated electronics module (Low energy ion detector)F. Leblanc
J.J. Berthelier
LATMOS (France)
LATMOS (France)
Imager suite
(HR camera, stereo camera, IR spectro-imager)
SIMBIO-SYS
3 instruments
STC
HRIC
VIHI
E. FlaminiASI

Drapeau Italie
High rate instrument management electronic moduleM. VincendonIAS (France)
Optical and radiometric calibration of the integrated suiteM. Vincendon
IAS (France)
Supply the detectors and the proximity electronics for VIHIA. DoressoundiramLESIA (France)
Laser AltimeterBELAN. Thomas



T. Spohn
Berne Univ. Drapeau Suisse

DLR Drapeau Allemagne
Mechanical and thermal Modelling of BELAP. LognonnéIPGP (France)
Solar and thermal IR radiation rejection filter studyP. LamyLAM (France)