Eight-Year Voyage Ends as BepiColombo Begins Mercury Arrival

After an eight-year journey through the inner solar system, the ESA–JAXA BepiColombo mission has begun its arrival at Mercury. The Mercury Transfer Module released its payload, initiating a six‑month sequence of maneuvers to place ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mio into Mercury orbits. Orbital insertion is targeted for Nov. 21, 2026, followed by Mio’s separation around Dec. 9 and the MOSIF sunshield jettison on Dec. 16; MPO will reach its polar orbit on March 10, 2027, with science operations starting in April 2027. The mission launched Oct. 19, 2018, from Kourou after Earth and multiple planetary flybys, but a 2024 solar‑panel issue slowed the trajectory, delaying Mercury arrival from 2025 to 2026.