BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European and Japanese space agencies to Mercury, the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun. Launched on 20 October 2018, it is made of two orbiters stacked on a transfer module with ion engines. Getting to Mercury is surprisingly hard: a probe falling towards the Sun gathers speed and must brake to be captured, so BepiColombo used one flyby of the Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury itself. Its arrival in orbit is planned for November 2026. The two orbiters will then separate to study Mercury’s surface, its iron core and its magnetic field.
Where is BepiColombo now?
Computing…
About BepiColombo
- Agency
- ESA / JAXA
- Launched
- 2018-10-20
- Status
- Cruise
Goals
BepiColombo sends two orbiters to Mercury, the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun, still the least explored of the inner planets. Europe's MPO maps its surface, composition and interior, while Japan's Mio studies its magnetic field and its surroundings. Scientists want to know why Mercury has a magnetic field, how ice survives in its polar craters and what its strange 'hollows' are, shedding light on the history of the Solar System.
Today
Mercury Transfer Module separated 2026-09-03, all systems nominal. MPO (ESA) and Mio (JAXA) separate 2026-12-09/10; science phase from April 2027. Arrival had been delayed from 2025 by a 2024 thruster power anomaly.
Questions and answers
Who was Bepi Colombo?
Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo, an Italian scientist who worked out how the Mariner 10 probe could fly past Mercury several times in the 1970s.
Why is Mercury hard to reach?
Falling towards the Sun speeds a probe up, and it needs a lot of braking to stay in orbit around such a small planet.
Where the numbers come from
Values refresh every second in your browser; the published data are checked every 10 minutes and updated several times a day.