Bepicolombo spacecraft facts

Factsheet for the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury, giving an overview of the mission goals, partnerships, launch mass, spacecraft components, and scientific instruments. 

More information about the instruments on ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio).

Timeline:
Launch: 01:45 GMT on 20 October 2018.
Earth flyby: 10 April 2020
Venus flyby 1: 15 October 2020
Venus flyby 2: 11 August 2021
Mercury flyby 1: 1 October 2021
Mercury flyby 2: 23 June 2022
Mercury flyby 3: 19 June 2023
Mercury flyby 4: 4 September 2024
Mercury flyby 5: 1 December 2024
Mercury flyby 6: 8 January 2025

MTM separates from MPO+Mio: 3 September 2026
MPO+Mio enter Mercury orbit: 21 November 2026
MPO and Mio separate: 9–10 December 2026
MPO ejects the MOSIF sunshield: 16 December 2026
Start of science operations: 6 April 2027

Note: This image was last updated in August 2026