Rewatch the European Space Agency’s 31 August 2026 online press briefing on the latest developments of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission, Europe’s and Japan’s first mission to Mercury.
This briefing focused on the complexities of the separation of the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), scheduled for 3 September 2026, a critical milestone marking the start of BepiColombo’s Mercury arrival phase. It also provided an overview of the operational challenges and milestones ahead, including Mercury orbit insertion in November 2026 and the separation of the two science orbiters (ESA’s MPO and JAXA’s Mio) in December 2026.
The briefing also provided an update on the mission’s status and explored the scientific opportunities that await as BepiColombo prepares to begin operations around Mercury. Journalists had the opportunity to ask questions following the presentations from three speakers:
- Prof. Geraint Jones, Lead Project Scientist, ESA
- Santa Martinez, Mission Manager, ESA
- Ignacio Tanco, Head of Inner Solar System Mission Operations, ESA
BepiColombo will be the most complex mission ever sent to Mercury. Its orbiters will be only the second and third to orbit the planet. Close to the Sun and more difficult for an orbiter to reach than Pluto, this small desert world is the least explored planet of the inner Solar System. Learning more about Mercury will shed light on the history of the entire Solar System.
The mission is a collaboration between ESA and JAXA, the latter providing the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio).
Click here for a set of explanatory infographics