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Mission record

BepiColombo

ESA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency · Launched

Explore trajectory

Active · Active

Joint ESA and JAXA mission to Mercury, launched on 20 October 2018 as a stack of ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter, JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio), Mio's sunshield and interface structure, and ESA's Mercury Transfer Module. Its cruise made one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys and six Mercury flybys between April 2020 and January 2025 on solar electric propulsion, which ESA switched off for the last time on 15 June 2026. ESA's mission page, read on 2 September 2026, gave the status as in operation and en route to Mercury. Its countries are the contractor countries ESA's An international endeavour page names, plus Japan for JAXA; not an ESA member-state contribution map.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Ariane 5
Launch site
Kourou, French Guiana
Countries
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom
Mission types
Orbiter, Flyby

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launch on an Ariane 5 from Kourou

    The two orbiters were launched together on an Ariane 5 from Kourou, French Guiana at 01:45:28 UT on 20 October 2018. ESA's factsheet prints the launch date as 19/20 October 2018 and the launch mass as 4100 kg. The NSSDCA Chronology of Lunar and Planetary Exploration dates this launch to 19 October 2018; the record follows the 20 October 2018 that the master catalog, the launch/orbital information page and GCAT agree on.

    Earth

  2. Gravity assist

    Earth gravity-assist flyby

    The first of the cruise's nine planetary flybys, an Earth flyby on 10 April 2020.

    Earth

  3. Gravity assist

    First Venus gravity-assist flyby

    First of two Venus flybys, on 15 October 2020.

    Venus

  4. Gravity assist

    Second Venus gravity-assist flyby

    Second of two Venus flybys, on 11 August 2021.

    Venus

  5. Flyby

    First Mercury flyby

    First of the six Mercury flybys ESA lists among the mission's journey milestones.

    Mercury

  6. Flyby

    Second Mercury flyby

    Second of the six Mercury flybys ESA lists among the mission's journey milestones.

    Mercury

  7. Flyby

    Third Mercury flyby

    Third of the six Mercury flybys ESA lists among the mission's journey milestones.

    Mercury

  8. Milestone

    Power degradation detected on the Mercury Transfer Module

    In April 2024 a power degradation was detected on the Mercury Transfer Module, resulting in a reduction of thrust from the electric propulsion unit and an alteration in the cruise trajectory. Recorded at month precision because that is the precision NSSDCA publishes.

  9. Flyby

    Fourth Mercury flyby

    Fourth of the six Mercury flybys ESA lists among the mission's journey milestones.

    Mercury

  10. Flyby

    Fifth Mercury flyby

    Fifth of the six Mercury flybys ESA lists among the mission's journey milestones.

    Mercury

  11. Flyby

    Sixth Mercury flyby

    Sixth of the six Mercury flybys ESA lists among the mission's journey milestones.

    Mercury

  12. Milestone

    Solar electric propulsion switched off for the last time

    At 15:24 CEST on 15 June 2026 the solar electric propulsion system completed its final thrust arc, which ESA describes as marking the end of BepiColombo's long cruise phase and the beginning of its arrival at Mercury. Recorded at day precision because the published time is a local clock time this record does not convert.

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Mercury Transfer Module · Spacecraft · Carried the two orbiters through the cruise on solar electric propulsion; ESA's arrival-phase page, read on 2 September 2026, said the module would separate on 3 September 2026

    Destinations: Mercury, Venus, Earth

    • Mercury Planetary Orbiter · Orbiter · ESA orbiter, 1230 kg at launch of which 85 kg is science payload

      Destinations: Mercury, Venus, Earth

      • Mio Sunshield and Interface Structure (MOSIF) · Other · ESA-provided structure carrying Mio on the Mercury Planetary Orbiter

        • Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter) · Orbiter · JAXA orbiter, 255 kg at launch of which 45 kg is science payload

          Destinations: Mercury, Venus, Earth

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 2, 2026