BepiColombo

Mission Profile

BepiColombo is a joint ESA-JAXA mission to Mercury, launched on 20 October 2018 aboard an Ariane 5 ECA and embarking on a complex 7-year interplanetary cruise involving nine gravity assists before arriving at Mercury in 2025. The mission consists of two orbiters — ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO/Mio) — that will separate in Mercury orbit to conduct simultaneous complementary science. Together they will provide the most comprehensive study of Mercury ever attempted, characterizing its surface composition, magnetic field, exosphere, and interior structure to understand how the innermost planet formed and evolved so close to the Sun. BepiColombo builds directly on MESSENGER's discoveries and will address the many questions that mission left unanswered.