About the Mission
BepiColombo was launched in October 2018 and has since followed a complex trajectory through the inner solar system to reach Mercury, using multiple gravity‑assist flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury itself to slow down and enter a stable orbit.
The mission comprises two orbiters: ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). Together they will study the planet’s surface, interior and magnetic field, each carrying a suite of specialised instruments.
After nearly eight years of flight, the spacecraft has executed its first capture manoeuvre, placing it into an elliptical orbit around Mercury. Over the coming months additional braking manoeuvres will circularise the orbit and enable the start of scientific observations.
Data from BepiColombo are expected to shed light on Mercury’s formation, its geological activity and the interaction of its magnetic field with the solar wind, potentially deepening our understanding of how rocky planets form and evolve in the solar system.