BepiColombo Mercury magnetospheric orbiter design

This paper summarizes the current status of the BepiColombo Mercury magnetospheric orbiter (MMO) spacecraft design. The MMO is a spinning spacecraft of 223 kg mass whose spin axis is nearly perpendicular to the Mercury orbital plane. The current status of the overall MMO system and subsystems such as thermal control, communication, power, etc., are described. The critical technologies are also outlined. Furthermore, the outline of the international cooperation between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and European Space Agency is also presented.