After 8 Years and 10 Billion Kilometres, This Highly Anticipated Mission to Mercury is Just Beginning
A Journey of Eight Years to Mercury
Embarking on an eight-year journey only to arrive back at the starting point may seem paradoxical. However, this is precisely the case for BepiColombo. This ambitious mission, a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), commenced its voyage in October 2018 and has since been traversing the inner solar system. It is now entering a critical phase that will enable its instruments to orbit Mercury, aiming to unravel some of the most pressing mysteries surrounding the planet closest to the Sun.
The initial milestone has been successfully achieved. On 3rd September, while approximately 3.3 million kilometres from Mercury, BepiColombo detached from the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) — the modu...










