ESA-Japan BepiColombo spacecraft set to enter Mercury orbit in November 2026
After eight years of cruise and multiple planetary flybys, the joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will be captured by Mercury’s gravity and begin its science phase later this year.
The European Space Agency and Japan's JAXA announced that their BepiColombo spacecraft will be captured by Mercury’s gravity in November 2026, marking the planet’s first new orbital mission since NASA’s MESSENGER ended in 2015. Launched on 20 October 2018, the probe has spent nearly eight years slowing down through a series of nine planetary flybys and continuous ion-engine thrust.
BepiColombo consists of a transfer module and two orbiters – the European Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mio – which will separate after capture to study the planet’s surface, interior and magnetic environment simultaneously. The mission’s arrival will be a gradual process, using low-thrust maneuvers rather than a single large engine burn. > "weakly" capture it into a polar orbit, the mission team said.
The November insertion is about eleven months later than originally planned. In April 2024 engineers discovered reduced thruster performance caused by unexpected electric currents in the transfer module, prompting a revised trajectory that brings the spacecraft closer to Mercury during its remaining flybys. The adjustment preserves the full science agenda, with the two orbiters expected to begin detailed observations in 2027.
Mercury, the solar system’s innermost planet, remains poorly understood despite past flybys by Mariner 10 and an orbital mission by MESSENGER. Its unusually large iron core, global magnetic field and permanently shadowed polar craters that may contain water ice make it a key target for planetary science. BepiColombo’s dual-orbiter approach aims to address long-standing questions about the planet’s composition, magnetic dynamics and volatile inventory.