BELA MPS Laser Technology Preparation Programme

One major part in the model payload for ESAs BepiColombo mission to planet mercury is the
BepiColombo Laser Altimeter (BELA) for the characterisation of the topology of the planets
surface. For a European space mission, this is a new technology. The concept of the BELA
instrument is based upon the classical altimeter approach of a direct detection of travel time of a
high energy laser pulse from the orbiter towards the planets surface and back.

From the BELA instrument proposal towards ESA, the following measurement excitation
approach can be extracted:  
 

• As laser source, a solid state laser system in Master Oscillator Power Amplifier configuration with passive q-switching for short pulse generation is foreseen. 
• By the use of optical fibers, a longitudinal optical pumping configuration inside this Oscillator-Amplifier Box (OAB) can be achieved with a mechanically and thermally separated Pump Diode Unit (PDU). 
• This Pump Diode Unit is electrically driven from a Power & Control Electronics unit, called Laser Electronics Unit (LEU), which serves also as electrical interface towards the remaining instruments units and boxes.

 
vH&S has performed the Phase A/B study including the design, fabrication & verification of a prototype model (PM).
 
The performance of the realized and delivered PM can be extracted from the fact sheet as PDF Document