BepiColombo begins Mercury arrival with MTM separation success
By ESA
Quick Summary
On 3 September 2026 at 15:49 CEST, the European Space Agency's BepiColombo Mission Control Team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) received the signal they had been waiting for – BepiColombo’s Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) successfully separated from the spacecraft stack. This landmark achievement for the ESA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission marks the first step of BepiColombo's long-awaited arrival at Mercury.
Related Launch: BepiColombo
BepiColombo is a joint mission of the ESA and the JAXA to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites to be launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). The mission will perform a comprehensive study of Mercury, including its magnetic field, magnetosphere, interior structure and surface.
- Rocket
- Ariane 5 ECA
- Pad
- Ariane Launch Area 3, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana
- Status
- Launch Successful
- Date
- October 20, 2018
Source: ESA
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