BepiColombo mission will start to unpick Mercury's secrets in 2026
The BepiColombo mission has been on its way to Mercury since 2018 and will finally start orbiting the planet and taking X-ray images in the second half of 2026
Space
The BepiColombo mission has been on its way to Mercury since 2018 and will finally start orbiting the planet and taking X-ray images in the second half of 2026
By Alex Wilkins
30 December 2025
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Artist’s impression of the BepiColombo spacecraft flying by Mercury
ESA/ATG medialab
We will finally begin to untangle Mercury’s mysteries in 2026, as the BepiColombo spacecraft descend into orbit around the solar system’s innermost planet.
BepiColombo consists of a pair of spacecraft from both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio) are attached to a parent spacecraft, the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM).
Since launching in 2018, the MTM has flown by Mercury six times, using the planet’s gravity to slow its descent until it can easily slot into orbit, a technique invented by the mission’s namesake, physicist Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo.
The mission has collected important scientific data, such as solar wind and of Mercury’s surface. But its most powerful instruments, such as a pair of X-ray spectrometers on ESA’s MPO, haven’t yet been used because their view has been obscured by the MTM.
