Mercury Planetary Orbiter
OrbiterESA's orbiter, built to study Mercury's surface and interior from a low orbit.
- Launch mass
- 1,838 kg
- Dry mass
- 1,169 kg
- Size
- 1.7 m × 3.9 m, span 6 m
- Power
- Solar
- Built by
- Airbus Defence and Space
- Designator
- 2018-080A
Image: ESA–C. Carreau · CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Wikimedia Commons
- Launched
- 20 Oct 201801:45:28 UTC
- Active for
- 8 years
- Destinations
- Mercury
A joint ESA and JAXA mission carrying two orbiters to Mercury, on a cruise of eight years with flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury itself.
Milestones
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Spacecraft
Active
Mio
OrbiterJAXA's spin-stabilised orbiter, built to study Mercury's magnetic field and its interaction with the solar wind.
- Launch mass
- 285 kg
- Size
- 0.9 m × 1.8 m, span 30 m
- Power
- Solar
- Built by
- NEC
Mission details from esa.int.