{
  "id": 5364905,
  "title": "'A new mission starting today': 8 years after launch, BepiColombo begins Mercury arrival",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/a-new-mission-starting-today-8-years-after-launch-bepicolombo-begins",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-03T16:25:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Space.com",
    "slug": "space-com",
    "url": "https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/a-new-mission-starting-today-8-years-after-launch-bepicolombo-begins-mercury-arrival"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nearly eight years after launching from Earth, the BepiColombo spacecraft has now started its approach to Mercury. This joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reached a significant milestone today, September 3rd, as the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) separated its dual spacecraft payload. The MTM, responsible for powering and propelling the probes for nearly eight years, released ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) to begin their final approach phase to the innermost planet of our solar system. Bruno Sousa, ESA’s head of operations, stated that the mission essentially represents a new beginning for BepiColombo. Launched in October 2018 on an Ariane 5 rocket, the spacecraft had to navigate a complex path, including flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury, to achieve the necessary gravitational energy reduction for its sunward journey. In April 2024, a solar panel issue further complicated the mission by reducing the power available for the MTM's electric thrusters, which led to a revised trajectory that delayed the Mercury arrival from December 2025 to November 2026. Today's maneuver did not place BepiColombo into orbit around Mercury, but rather began a six-month series of navigation activities to bring the spacecraft into orbit around the planet on November 21, 2026. Following orbital insertion, Mio will separate from MPO in December 2026 to settle into a highly elliptical polar orbit, while MPO will continue to lower its altitude before reaching its own polar orbit on March 10, 2027. Science operations are expected to commence on April 6, 2027, with the two orbiters studying Mercury's surface composition, geology, and interior structure, as well as its magnetic field and interaction with the solar wind, from complementary orbits.",
  "summary": "After nearly eight years traveling through the inner solar system, the trailblazing BepiColombo spacecraft has finally begun its arrival at Mercury.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Space.com",
        "title": "2 spacecraft will soon reach Mercury after 8 years in space. Here's what BepiColombo can do",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/2-spacecraft-will-soon-reach-mercury-after-8-years-in-space-heres",
        "published": "2026-09-03T18:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}