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ESA confirms BepiColombo Mercury Transfer Module separation

9/4/2026

27 2 Full Breakdown

Summary

ESA Executes Separation

ESA’s control centre in Germany oversaw the separation of BepiColombo’s Mercury Transfer Module from its two orbiters.
The separation took place on 3 September 2026 at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).
ESA confirmed nominal telemetry after receiving a signal at 10:53 a.m. EDT (1353 GMT).
The Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mio will stay linked until Mercury orbit insertion on 21 November 2026.

Summary

ESA Launches

ESA launched BepiColombo aboard an Ariane 5 from Kourou in October 2018.
The spacecraft will use electric propulsion and nine flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury.
The Mercury Transfer Module will become a passive, tumbling object in solar orbit, never impacting Mercury.
Instruments will map Mercury’s magnetic field, dense core, surface hollows, and polar ice.
The mission costs €1.7 billion (about $2 billion), primarily funded by ESA.

History

Historical Context

In March 1986 ESA’s Giotto probe, launched on Ariane 1, flew past Halley’s Comet at 00:03 UTC on 14 March, becoming the first European deep-space encounter. The mission joined the Soviet Vega and Japanese Sakigake probes that formed the 1985-86 “Halley Armada,” demonstrating ESA’s capability for comet flybys. This experience paved the way for later ESA interplanetary projects such as the Rosetta mission to comet 67P in 2014.

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ESA Executes Separation

ESA’s control centre in Germany oversaw the separation of BepiColombo’s Mercury Transfer Module from its two orbiters.
The separation took place on 3 September 2026 at 8:00 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT).
ESA confirmed nominal telemetry after receiving a signal at 10:53 a.m. EDT (1353 GMT).
The Mercury Planetary Orbiter and JAXA’s Mio will stay linked until Mercury orbit insertion on 21 November 2026.

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