BepiColombo Begins Its Approach to Mercury After Eight-Year Journey

The European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission will take its first step toward arriving at Mercury on 3 September 2026, when the spacecraft's Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) separates from its two science orbiters. ESA describes the separation as the beginning of one of the most operationally challenging planetary arrival sequences it has ever attempted.

BepiColombo launched on 20 October 2018 and has travelled as a single stacked spacecraft for eight years. It carries two orbiters: ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio). Led by ESA in partnership with JAXA, the mission is the first Mercury mission for both agencies and the first to send two separate orbiters to the planet together.

Once the MTM has separated, MPO and Mio will enter orbit around Mercury together in November 2026, before splitting apart in December 2026 so that MPO can move into its own dedicated polar orbit. BepiColombo will become only the second spacecraft ever to enter orbit around Mercury.

ESA is streaming the MTM separation live from its European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, starting at 13:45 CEST on 3 September. Mission control teams will then wait to reacquire BepiColombo's signal and check the spacecraft's health before confirming the operation went as planned.