The BepiColombo flight control team have been joined today by experts from ESTEC and Airbus defence & Space for a ‘system validation test’ – linking the new mission control systems at ESOC to an engineering test model of the spacecraft (located in Friedrichshafen). This is an important step in ensuring the ground systems can correctly ‘talk’ to the real spacecraft once it’s enroute to Mercury in 2018. Images credit: ESA
