All articles tagged with #jaxa
Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe lost its final working ion engine in August 2026, jeopardizing its extended mission to asteroid 1998 KY26. JAXA engineers plan to rewire the spacecraft by combining the functional neutralizer from Engine B with the healthy ion source from Engine D, a technique previously used to save the original Hayabusa mission. The repair attempt is scheduled for late October 2026.
The European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission arrived at Mercury on Sept. 3, becoming only the third spacecraft to visit the innermost planet. After an eight-year journey powered by gravity assists across billions of miles, the Mercury Transfer Module separated from the stack, marking a landmark milestone for ESA and JAXA. The two science modules—MPO and Mio—will begin primary mission phases in the coming years to study Mercury's interior, magnetic field, and environment, with goals including understanding Lopate scarps and the planet’s exosphere.
ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo released a stitched video of its nearly eight-year, 9.9-billion-km cruise to Mercury, showing gravity assists past Earth, Venus and Mercury. The footage, from the MTM cameras, has been cleaned of light-artefact streaks. The mission’s final arrival sequence begins in late 2026, with the Mercury Transfer Module separating and MPO and Mio entering Mercury orbit in November 2026, marking the first time two spacecraft will orbit Mercury simultaneously for detailed mapping.
Two spacecraft in the European Space Agency–Japan's JAXA BepiColombo mission are nearing Mercury after a nearly decade-long voyage; they separated from their carrier and are on track to enter Mercury's orbit in November, then split into two probes in December to map the planet from different altitudes, studying Mercury's magnetic field, interior, and surface features.
After an eight-year journey powered by electric propulsion and nine gravity assists, ESA’s BepiColombo has shed its Mercury Transfer Module and remains on track to enter Mercury orbit on November 21; the European Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mio will separate in December and begin coordinated science, with routine observations starting next April as engineers monitor the critical arrival sequence.
Eight years after launch, ESA/JAXA's BepiColombo will separate its two science spacecraft—Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mio—from the carrier this December for coordinated Mercury observations; by April 2027 the twin probes will begin detailed, simultaneous studies of Mercury’s surface, gravity, magnetosphere and exosphere, including searches for water ice in shadowed polar craters and mineral mapping without iron to shed light on how Mercury formed and the inner solar system.
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.
After an eight-year voyage using electric propulsion and gravity assists, the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission is set to place two independent orbiters, MPO and MIO, around Mercury to map the planet, study its magnetic environment and exosphere, and test ideas about Mercury’s formation and high density. The Mercury Transfer Module will separate from the science stack, with orbital capture occurring over the coming months and science operations beginning in April, marking the first-ever dual-orbiter mission around a planet.
Two spacecraft from ESA and JAXA—BepiColombo’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter—are about to begin the Mercury-arrival phase, separating from their transfer module around 8:00 a.m. EDT on Sept. 3. Space.com will carry the ESA webcast starting at 7:45 a.m. EDT to cover the separation and initial comms as the two orbiters head toward Mercury, with MPO/ Mio to be linked in later, and the science phase kicking off in 2027: MPO will map Mercury’s surface while Mio studies Mercury’s magnetosphere, after the two craft reach their planned orbits in 2027–2028. The mission launched in October 2018 and will yield detailed insights into Mercury’s interior, composition, and magnetic field.
After an eight-year journey hampered by a power glitch, ESA/JAXA's BepiColombo will separate its two Mercury orbiters from the transfer module and enter independent polar orbits around Mercury, with MPO eventually ejecting MMO and continuing on; the arrival will be livestreamed by ESA on September 3.
Japan’s JAXA Hayabusa2 mission carried out an exceptionally close flyby of near-Earth asteroid Torifune, reaching about 800 meters from the asteroid’s center at a speed of roughly 5.3 km/s after months of debate over safety. The flyby produced high-resolution imagery showing Torifune is a contact-binary asteroid larger than anticipated, with all four science instruments returning data and the most urgent data downlinked, while the full 300 MB dataset will arrive later. The mission demonstrates rapid asteroid characterization capabilities and could inform future planetary-defense efforts, including potential impactor-style investigations.
Hayabusa2 pushed its aging craft to a record-close 800-meter flyby of the near‑Earth asteroid Torifune, a binary rock, after a heated debate over risk; the mission returned close images and science data from all four instruments, including nine seconds of Thermal Infrared Imaging and a possible first LIDAR ranging during an asteroid flyby, with about 25 MB of data downlinked initially and some 300 MB total expected. The operation demonstrated fast reconnaissance capabilities for planetary defense and paves the way for the spacecraft's 2031 rendezvous with KY26.
Japan’s JAXA tested a prototype reusable rocket at Noshiro in Akita Prefecture, achieving a ~10‑meter ascent and a safe landing after a ~40‑second flight, marking a step toward lower launch costs via partial reuse amid global advances by SpaceX and China; officials will review data to confirm success and Japan’s rocket-industry competitiveness.
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft conducted a high‑speed flyby of asteroid Torifune about 62 million miles from Earth, capturing optical imagery with its ONC‑T camera and thermal data with the Mid‑Infrared Camera to analyze surface temperatures and roughness. The encounter, not part of the original mission and described as risky, adds to Hayabusa2’s long-running exploration after returning Ryugu’s samples in 2020 and sets the stage for its future target 1998 KY26 in 2031 while showcasing the probe’s ongoing study of small solar‑system bodies.
Japan's Hayabusa2 completed a high-speed flyby of the Torifune asteroid as part of its Extended Mission, with data confirming success and potential image release; the probe continues toward its final target in 2031 and aims to advance close-approach technology for planetary defense.