Posted: Sat, Jan 19, 2008, 9:51 AM ET (1451 GMT)
The European Space Agency signed a contract Friday with EADS Astrium for the construction of BepiColombo, ESA's first mission to the planet Mercury. The €350-million (US$513-million) contract makes Astrium the prime contractor for the mission and includes the construction of the primary spacecraft; a secondary orbiter that will also be flown on the mission is being provided by the Japanese space agency JAXA. BepiColombo, scheduled for launch in 2013 on a Soyuz 2 rocket, will arrive at Mercury in 2019 and enter orbit. The two spacecraft will study the planet's surface and magnetosphere. The total mission cost, through 202, is estimated to be €665 million (US$975 million). BepiColombo will be only the second Mercury orbiter mission, after NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. MESSENGER, which performed the first of three Mercury flybys earlier this week, will enter orbit around Mercury in 2011.
