The joint BepiColombo mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is preparing to reach Mercury after traveling more than 10 billion kilometers following its launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in October 2018. The approximately 8-year journey was extended because of the difficulty of adjusting its speed to enter the planet’s orbit. In addition to electric propulsion, the spacecraft used gravitational assists from a total of nine flybys near Earth, Venus and Mercury.
The mission’s carrier vehicle, Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), will separate from the system. ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MIO) will enter Mercury’s orbit on November 21 and separate on December 9-10. MPO is scheduled to be positioned on December 16 and MIO on March 10; scientific studies are planned to begin next April. MPO will study the surface, while MIO will examine the space environment. The spacecraft will also investigate the planet’s structure, magnetic field, exosphere and mysterious pits called “hollows.” Daytime temperatures on Mercury can reach 430 degrees Celsius.
Why it matters
This stage brings together two different observation lines that will make it possible to study Mercury not only through its surface features but also through its space environment and magnetic field. This will allow data on the planet’s structure, exosphere and pits called hollows to be evaluated within the same mission. The mission’s long and multi-stage route shows that operating around Mercury is challenging not only in terms of reaching it, but also in terms of achieving suitable speed and orbital conditions. When scientific studies begin, the key question that remains open will be to what extent the observations collected will explain the nature of these pits and the magnetic environment surrounding the planet.
Background
STARTING, it is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: we have published 4 news stories mentioning this name in the last 90 days; the latest is dated 30 August 2026.
Term: agent
An artificial intelligence agent is software that calls tools and carries out multi-step tasks to achieve a goal, rather than generating a single response.