BepiColombo nears Mercury orbital arrival after seven year journey

Paris, France (SPX) Nov 25, 2025

The ESA and JAXA BepiColombo mission is entering its final year of approach to Mercury, on track to reach orbit in November 2026 after launching in October 2018. The dual-spacecraft mission has already completed one flyby of Earth, two of Venus, and six of Mercury, collecting solar activity and magnetosphere data en route.

Throughout its cruise, BepiColombo measured planetary magnetic envi