Space Luisa Fernanda
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Tuesday, September 29, 2026 · UTC
Missions & Exploration

BepiColombo set to enter Mercury orbit in November

The European-Japanese mission, launched in 2018, will arrive at the innermost planet after a seven-year cruise.

Caleb Mbeki
Planetary Science Reporter
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The BepiColombo mission, a joint European and Japanese effort, is expected to enter orbit around Mercury in November.[2] The composite spacecraft launched on October 20, 2018, carrying the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, and the Mercury Transfer Module.[1] Once in orbit, the two science orbiters will separate and begin mapping the planet from different altitudes. NASA's Messenger spacecraft, which orbited Mercury from 2011 to 2015, provided earlier measurements that researchers are using to prepare for BepiColombo's observations.[3]
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  1. The mission launched on October 20, 2018, as a composite spacecraft consisting of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter, the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, and the Mercury Transfer Module. · esa.intofficial source
  2. The BepiColombo mission, consisting of European and Japanese spacecraft, is expected to enter orbit around Mercury in November. · WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
  3. NASA's Messenger spacecraft provided measurements from the 2010s used in the study. · WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando
We could not place any of them by their address. 1 is an official body, so this traces to the document itself.