Masaki Adachi

Current status of the BepiColombo/MMO spacecraft design

Abstract This paper shows the current baseline of the conceptual design of the BepiColombo/MMO (mercury magnetospheric orbiter) spacecraft, which is conducted by the ISAS Mercury Exploration Working Group. The MMO is a spinning spacecraft of 200 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 latest status of the development of critical technologies for the MMO and the outline of the international cooperation between ESA and ISAS are also presented.

ISAS feasibility study on the BepiColombo/MMO spacecraft design

Abstract This paper shows the latest results of the feasibility study of the BepiColombo MMO (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) Spacecraft, which was conducted by the ISAS (Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) Mercury Exploration Working Group.

Advanced spacecraft design for asteroid sample return mission

Abstract A new generation of M-series launch vehicle, M-V, is currently being developed at Institute of Space and Astronautical Science and the first flight is scheduled for 1996. We will carry out several planetary missions using M-V which can launch a spacecraft of a few hundred kilograms into a trans-planet orbit. Lunar penetorator mission “LUNAR-A” and Mars orbiter mission “PLANET-B” have been approved and the launch is scheduled for 1997 and 1998, respectively. Our follow-on planetary missions will be more advanced and complex because of the increasingly demanding scientific requirements. One of them is the asteroid sample return mission. In order to realize advanced planetary missions, it is absolutely necessary to establish highly advanced and light-weight spacecraft design under the constraint of launch capability. In this paper, we will describe our advanced spacecraft design concept for the asteroid sample return mission with M-V vehicle as an example.