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OtherSurprisingGlobal23 Oct 20261 min read

BepiColombo’s long journey promises two views of Mercury

BepiColombo, the joint European and Japanese mission launched in 2018, is travelling to Mercury with two spacecraft designed to study different aspects of the planet.

Getting into orbit around Mercury requires a spacecraft to lose substantial orbital energy as it heads towards the Sun. The mission uses a sequence of planetary flybys alongside its propulsion system to shape its approach.

Europe’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter is designed to investigate the planet’s surface and composition, while Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter will study its magnetic environment. The mission’s current arrival date, separation sequence and operational status need to be checked against ESA and JAXA updates before describing any milestone as imminent.