Vi giro la press release dell 'ESA:
After a competitive phase started in 2001, ESA has awarded Astrium the prime contract to build BepiColombo. The contract signature ceremony will take place in presence of the Prime Minister of Baden Württemberg (Germany), Dr. Guenther Oettinger, and will mark the kick-off of the industrial development of the spacecraft.
BepiColombo will be launched in 2013. It consists of two spacecraft - an orbiter for planetary investigation, led by ESA, and one for magnetospheric studies, led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The satellite duo will reach Mercury in 2019 after a six-year journey towards the inner Solar System, to make the most extensive and detailed study of Mercury ever attempted......
........Such challenges derive from the difficulty of reaching, surviving and operating in the harsh environment of a planet so close to Sun, making of BepiColombo one of the most complex long-term planetary projects undertaken by ESA so far.
