Latest updates: BepiColombo's arrival at Mercury
After eight years of travelling through the inner Solar System, BepiColombo is arriving at Mercury. This page will show the latest updates throughout the mission's arrival.
BepiColombo will be the second and most complex mission ever to orbit Mercury. Close to the Sun and more difficult for an orbiter to reach than Saturn, this small desert world is the least explored planet of the inner Solar System. Learning more about Mercury will shed light on the history of the entire Solar System.
Packed with scientific instruments, the mission will try to answer many perplexing questions, such as: Why is there ice in the polar craters of the scorched planet? Why does Mercury have a magnetic field? And what are the mysterious 'hollows' on its surface?
- Launch: 20 October 2018 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport
- Components: Mercury Planetary Orbiter, Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, Mercury Transfer Module
- Status: In operation; en route to Mercury
- Mercury flybys: 1 Oct 2021, 23 June 2022, 19 June 2023, 4 Sept 2024, 1 Dec 2024, 8 Jan 2025
- Arrival at Mercury: December 2026
- Beginning of routine science operations at Mercury: April 2027
2
orbiters
8
year cruise
9
planet flybys
4100
kg launch mass
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Latest news
BepiColombo’s third Mercury flyby: the movie
Watch Mercury appear from the shadows as the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft sped by the planet’s night side during its 19 June 2023 close flyby, and enjoy a special flyover of geologically rich terrain, along with a bonus 3D scene.
Watch live: BepiColombo begins its arrival at Mercury
After eight years, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission is about to enter its Mercury Arrival Phase. On 3 September 2026, ESA’s Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) will separate from BepiColombo’s two science orbiters – the first major step in one of the most operationally challenging planetary arrival sequences ever attempted by ESA. The European Space Agency (ESA) will livestream the critical milestone from 13:45 CEST. Tune in and witness the first step of one of the most complex phases of the mission, live from ESA mission control. Join ESA's livestream on YouTube here!
BepiColombo arrival media kit
Download this media kit to learn more about the arrival at Mercury of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission, the spacecraft's eight year journey, and the science goals of the mission.
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Featured images
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Featured videos
Celebrating BepiColombo, three words at a time
BepiColombo’s Mercury arrival begins - full replay
MTM's selfie footage of BepiColombo's eight-year journey
BepiColombo begins its arrival at Mercury
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Related links
BepiColombo overview
BepiColombo factsheet
Name: BepiColomboSpacecraft: Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO or Mio), and the Mercury Transport Module (MTM)Mission: To investigate Mercury, the innermost and least explored planet in the inner Solar System.
Top five Mercury mysteries that BepiColombo will solve
Mercury is a desert world which scientists until recently considered quite uninteresting. NASA’s Mariner and Messenger missions, however, revealed that there is much more to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System than meets the eye. Despite temperatures on its surface rising up to 450°C, there seems to be water ice on Mercury. The planet also appears to have a way too large inner core for its size and a surprising chemical composition. Here are the top five Mercury mysteries that the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission might solve.
Why does it take so long to get to Mercury?
Earth is on average ten times closer to Mercury than Jupiter, but missions to both planets can take a similar amount of time to reach their science orbits. Why is that?
