- Start
- Nov 21, 202640% CONFIDENCELow confidencefrom the source
BepiColombo Enters Mercury Orbit
- BepiColombo is a joint ESA/JAXA mission with two orbiters, ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA's Mio, launched 20 October 2018 on an Ariane 5[1][3]
- Mercury orbit insertion is planned for 21 November 2026[1][2][3]
- Arrival was originally expected in December 2025; a thruster power glitch from April 2024 reduced thrust, and a revised trajectory announced 2 September 2024 moved arrival to November 2026[1][4]
- Cruise used nine flybys (Earth April 2020, Venus October 2020 and August 2021, six Mercury flybys through 8 January 2025)[1][2][3]
- Solar electric propulsion was switched off for the last time on 15 June 2026, ending the eight-year cruise; the Mercury Transfer Module separates on 3 September 2026[1][2][3]
- After insertion Mio reaches its science orbit (590 x 11,640 km) and separates from MPO around 9-10 December 2026; MPO reaches science orbit in early 2027 ("by March 2027" per[2]); the nominal mission ends April 2028[1][2][3]
- MPO carries 11 instruments and Mio five[1][3]
References 476% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]40%en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BepiColomboen.wikipedia.org· Posted Sep 11, 2026· Starts Nov 21, 2026 ✓· 32% of score
Date has moved, per en.wikipedia.org: "…propulsion system, Mercury arrival was delayed to November 2026.[10] Overview The mission involves…"
- [2]92%End of the blue glow: BepiColombo turns off solar electric propulsion for Mercury arrivalesa.int· Added Sep 14, 2026· 33% of score
ESA's[3][4] own mission-operations update confirms the "critical Mercury orbit insertion maneuver" is set for "November 21, 2026," corroborating the factsheet's date after the spacecraft's solar-electric propulsion shutdown.
- [3]96%BepiColombo factsheetesa.int· Added Sep 14, 2026· 33% of score
ESA's[2][4] own factsheet states "MPO+Mio enter Mercury orbit: 21 November 2026," an exact match to the pin's stored date.
- [4]86%Fourth Mercury flyby begins BepiColombo's new trajectoryesa.int· Published Sep 2, 2024· 2% of score
ESA's[2][3] report on the fourth Mercury flyby (published 2 September 2024) explains arrival "has been postponed from December 2025 to November 2026" due to a thruster malfunction, giving the origin of the pin's delayed, stored date.
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