BepiColombo has separated its Mercury Transfer Module from the main spacecraft stack on September 3, 2026, after eight years travelling through the inner Solar System. Ground stations in Spain and Argentina confirmed the separation using Doppler signal analysis, which detects changes in radio frequency as the spacecraft changes velocity. All systems are operating normally, with the Mercury Planetary Orbiter's solar panels charging its batteries.
The separation occurred more than 200 million kilometres from Earth, requiring precise planning and navigation with no opportunity for real-time intervention from mission controllers. The European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency jointly lead the mission from ESA's European Space Operations Centre.
BepiColombo's two science orbiters — the Mercury Planetary Orbiter from ESA and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter from JAXA — are now heading toward Mercury orbit insertion scheduled for November 21, 2026. The two spacecraft will separate from each other on December 9-10, 2026, becoming the first pair of orbiters to study Mercury simultaneously.
The mission's science phase is set to begin in April 2027.
