Overview
- On Thursday the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) successfully separated from the two scientific spacecraft and ESA ground stations in Cebreros and Malargüe confirmed strong signal, power, propulsion and communications.
- The paired orbiters — ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MIO) — will coast toward a planned gravity capture by Mercury on 21 November 2026.
- Mission teams now face several months of untested in‑flight procedures and intense operations, with the two orbiters scheduled to separate in early to mid‑December and complete final orbital positioning through March 2027.
- The orbiters have distinct science roles: MPO will map Mercury’s surface and probe its interior while MIO will study the planet’s magnetosphere and near‑planet space environment, with coordinated science operations set to begin in April 2027.
- BepiColombo launched in October 2018 and used electric propulsion plus nine gravity‑assist flybys over roughly 10 billion kilometres to reach this point, while the MTM will remain in a heliocentric orbit after separation.