Yesterday saw the BepiColombo spacecraft make yet another successful flyby of Mercury, with Starion’s experts playing a vital part in making this a success.
Planetary flybys are an important element of a mission’s voyage to reach its final destination. They also offer a great opportunity to undertake some valuable science and check that the onboard instruments are functioning correctly. Our team at the European Space Agency’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESA ESAC) have been continuing their long-standing support to the mission with the SPOT CRUISE tool.
BepiColombo’s fifth Mercury flyby
Sunday 1 December 2024 marked BepiColombo’s fifth flyby of Mercury and the eighth out of nine it will undertake to reach its final orbit around Mercury. The final flyby will be in January 2025, and then it will enter orbit around the Sun’s closest planet in November 2026.
This flyby was different in that the altitude was very high (more than 37,000km) but some instruments like Mertis, a radiometer and thermal infrared spectrometer, were able to take a look at Mercury in a way that was not possible during previous flybys.
Starion’s experts at ESAC played an important role in making this happen. Sara de la Fuente Franco, Starion Planetary Team Work Area and Software Development Manager, and Inaki Ortiz de Landaluce, Principal Software Engineer and Software Architect, are both responsible for the BepiColombo SPOT CRUISE tool. This is a cutting-edge, web-based framework designed to streamline and centralise the workflow for scientific instrument teams. Its primary role is to facilitate the creation and submission of scientific payload operations requests for cruise science activities, ensuring seamless alignment with the mission’s information database integrated into ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) ground-based data systems.
How does SPOT CRUISE help?
With SPOT CRUISE, users can efficiently manage operations requests by creating, cloning, editing, deleting and delivering them, all within a centralised, version-controlled environment. This approach not only enhances operational efficiency, but also ensures robust data privacy and confidentiality through strict user authorisation and authentication protocols.
A standout feature of the tool is its simulation capability, enabling teams to verify resource utilisation such as power and data volume. Additionally, it offers 3D visualisation features, providing critical insights into events like Mercury’s Magnetopause and Bowshock crossings. By combining advanced functionality with user-centric design, the SPOT CRUISE tool plays a pivotal role in supporting the scientific objectives of the BepiColombo mission, paving the way for deeper exploration and understanding of Mercury.
Beyond BepiColombo
The SPOT CRUISE tool has value beyond the BepiColombo mission too. It has provided the foundation for SPOT JUICE – the equivalent tool for the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission to Jupiter – and was used in a Lunar-Earth Gravity Assist in August 2024. Such successes open the door to SPOT CRUISE’s potential adoption in future missions, and sets a new standard for scientific payload command request management, ensuring efficient, reliable and cost-effective mission planning and operations support.
We’re looking forward now to the next flyby, scheduled for 8 January 2025. Watch this space!
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Main image – spacecraft: ESA/ATG medialab; Mercury: NASA/JPL