MTM Mercury Transfer Module spacecraft
ESA's Mercury Transfer Module supplied BepiColombo's solar-electric cruise propulsion and carried the MPO and Mio orbiters through the inner Solar System. Its xenon ion thrusters reduced the propellant needed for the journey. The module successfully separated from the orbiter stack on 3 September 2026, completing its transfer role before Mercury orbit insertion.
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Identity
- Aliases
- MTMMercury Transfer ModuleBepiColombo MTM
- Family Name
- MTM
- Full Name
- MTM Mercury Transfer Module spacecraft
- Roles
- orbital_transfer
- Status
- active
- Type
- spacecraft
Details
- Description
- ESA's Mercury Transfer Module supplied BepiColombo's solar-electric cruise propulsion and carried the MPO and Mio orbiters through the inner Solar System. Its xenon ion thrusters reduced the propellant needed for the journey. The module successfully separated from the orbiter stack on 3 September 2026, completing its transfer role before Mercury orbit insertion.
- First Flight Year
- 2,018
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 00:42:25 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 13:11:25 UTC