Overview
- The Mercury Transfer Module is due to separate from the MPO and Mio stack on Thursday, a move that ends years of ion‑thrust cruising and sends the empty transfer module on a descent toward Mercury.
- Teams at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre will wait nearly two hours for a confirmation signal because the spacecraft runs automatic health checks, then must reorient antennas before ground stations can receive telemetry.
- After separation the two orbiters will remain joined for months, with the MPO using its chemical main engine to perform Mercury orbit insertion around 21 November and the probes planned to split into separate orbits in December.
- The mission uses two complementary spacecraft so MPO can map surface composition with cameras, infrared, X‑ray instruments and laser altimetry while JAXA’s Mio measures Mercury’s magnetic field and its interaction with the solar wind.
- BepiColombo capped an almost eight‑year, nine‑flyby cruise to reach this point, carries an estimated budget of about €1.65–1.7 billion, and aims to begin routine science and data analysis in April 2027 if the coming maneuvers go as planned.