Present status of the BepiColombo/Mercury magnetospheric orbiter Original Research Article

BepiColombo is an interdisciplinary mission to Mercury, conducted as a joint project by ESA and JAXA: a cornerstone mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision Program and one of the major missions in the JAXA Space Science Program. The mission consists of two spacecraft: the Mercury planetary orbiter (MPO), a three-axis stabilized satellite dedicated to the remote sensing of Mercury, and the Mercury magnetospheric orbiter (MMO), a spin-stabilized satellite devoted to the study of the Hermean magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. JAXA is responsible for development of the MMO and its operation. This paper gives an overview of the scientific payload of the MMO, which was formally selected in the fall of 2004 by JAXA.