QinetiQ has signed a 23 million pounds contract with EADS Astrium for the supply of the solar-electric propulsion system for European Space Agency’s (ESA's) BepiColombo spacecraft mission to the planet Mercury. BepiColombo, due to launch in 2014, is Europe's first mission to Mercury — the inner most planet of the solar system where temperatures can reach 470 °C. Ad Mercury is so close to the Sun, the mission presents ESA with a range of daunting technical challenges. Solar radiation is 10x stronger on Mercury and six years are required to get to the planet, requiring a large amount of energy to brake the spacecraft against the Sun’s gravitational pull.

QinetiQ's solar-electric propulsion system comprises four T6 ion thrusters that have been selected because they are approximately 10x more efficient than chemical thrusters that have traditionally been used as propulsion systems on spacecraft. The electric propulsion system will be complemented by several planetary gravity-assist manoeuvres with BepiColombo "swinging by" Venus, as well as the Earth and Mercury to benefit from their gravitational fields. The thrusters use the inert gas xenon as their propellant and have already been proven on ESA's GOCE spacecraft, which is currently in orbit measuring the Earth's gravitational field.