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
Instrument | Name | PI | Laboratory | French Contribution | Co-PI or Co-I | Laboratory |
Plasma wave measurement instrument suite | PWI 5 instruments WPanT Search Coil AM²P MEFISTO SORBET | H. Matsumoto | Kyoto University![]() | Supply the axial fluxmeter of the Search Coil | F. Sahraoui | LPP (France) |
Supply AM²P instrument (Active Measurement of Mercury's Plasma) | P. Henri | LPC2E (France) | ||||
Supply SORBET instrument (Radio Waves and Thermal Electrostatic Noise Spectroscopy) | M. Moncuquet | LESIA (France) | ||||
Charged particle measurements instrument suite | MPPE 5 instruments MEA MSA SWA HEP-e HEP-i | Y. Saito | ISAS-JAXA![]() | Supply MEA instrument (Electron spectra analyzer) | N. André | IRAP (France) |
Supply the Top-Hat electrostatic analyzer for MSA instrument | D. Delcourt | LPP (France) |
French Contributions to the instruments of MPO payload
Instrument | Name | PI | Laboratory | French Contribution | Co-PI or Co-I | Laboratory |
UV Spectrometer | PHEBUS | E. Quemerais | LATMOS![]() | Supply PHEBUS instrument | I. Yoshikawa O. Korablev | Univ. Tohoku (Japan) IKI (Russia) |
Neutral and Ionized Particle Analyser Instrument suite | SERENA 4 instruments ELENA STROFIO PICAM MIPA | S. Orsini | IFSI![]() | ELENA HT Converter (Emitted Low-Energy Neutral Atoms) | I. Dandouras | IRAP (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. Flamini | ASI![]() | High rate instrument management electronic module | M. Vincendon | IAS (France) |
Optical and radiometric calibration of the integrated suite | M. Vincendon | IAS (France) | ||||
Supply the detectors and the proximity electronics for VIHI | A. Doressoundiram | LESIA (France) | ||||
Laser Altimeter | BELA | N. Thomas T. Spohn | Berne Univ. ![]() DLR ![]() | Mechanical and thermal Modelling of BELA | P. Lognonné | IPGP (France) |
Solar and thermal IR radiation rejection filter study | P. Lamy | LAM (France) |