BepiColombo

international space mission

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July 21, 2026

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The BepiColombo mission is an international collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to study Mercury. Named after Italian mathematician Giuseppe Colombo, the mission launched in 2018 and is scheduled to arrive at Mercury in 2025. It consists of two spacecraft: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (ESA) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (JAXA). These will orbit Mercury to study its planet and magnetosphere, respectively. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system, closest to the Sun, and has the shortest year at 88 days. Studying Mercury presents challenges due to its proximity to the Sun and its position in Earth's sky.12

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Mercury
Mariner 10, radar, and Messenger
… (JAXA) launched a Mercury mission, BepiColombo, that is scheduled to arrive at Mercury in 2025 and spend one year in orbit. The mission is named after Italian mathematician Giuseppe (“Bepi”) Colombo, who discovered that Mercury’s rotation period is two-thirds of its orbital period. The spacecraft has two parts: ESA’s Mercury…
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… (JAXA) launched a Mercury mission, BepiColombo, that is scheduled to arrive at Mercury in 2025 and spend one year in orbit. The mission is named after Italian mathematician Giuseppe (“Bepi”) Colombo, who discovered that Mercury’s rotation period is two-thirds of its orbital period. The spacecraft has two parts: ESA’s Mercury…
Read More