BepiColombo begins Mercury arrival sequence on September 3
On 3 September 2026, after eight years of travel, ESA's Mercury Transfer Module will separate from BepiColombo's two science orbiters, marking the first step of the mission's arrival at Mercury. Following separation, ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter will enter orbit around Mercury together in November, then separate in December 2026, with science operations beginning in April 2027. ESA will livestream the separation operation live from its European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, starting at 13:45 CEST.