BepiColombo - Exploring Mercury

Europe's first mission to Mercury

Welcome to ESA's website for the BepiColombo scientific community and the BepiColombo Science Ground Segment. The target audience for this site is scientists  and engineers involved in the BepiColombo mission. ESA pages for the general public interested in the BepiColombo mission can be found here . Next milestone: Flyby No 6 on 8 January 2025 at 6:59 CET closest Approach (300km from the surface)


​​​​​​​This year was a very special and at the end also a very successful year for BepiColombo. In the beginning of the year, we encountered issues with our Solar Panels which were no longer able to provide the power we had used as a baseline for our mission plan. Consequently, there was the high risk that the mission could not be finished as planned. In the end – thanks to the great engagement of many people in our teams on all sides – we managed to perform two flybys as planned and redefine our mission without compromising science goals and performance. The only impact left is a one year delay of the start of our in-orbit science phase. However, we have still a long and challenging way in front of us, but we are confident that we will see fantastic results from our instruments in the coming years. Many thanks to all for your support during this year. Happy Holidays and all the best to you and your families and friends in 2025. Stay strong – go BepiColombo go!

An overview paper about the mission and its science goals was published in 2021: Benkhoff, J., Murakami, G., Baumjohann, W., et al. BepiColombo - Mission Overview and Science Goals. Space Sci Rev 217, 90 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-021-00861-4

Back BepiColombo_Xmas_2022

 

Dear friends of the BepiColombo mission, 

We wish you a relaxing Holiday Season with family and friends and a Happy New Year!

Again, another year with a lot of special moments comes to an end:  We saw our target planet for the second time though the “Eyes” of our monitoring camera in June. After quite some time we were able to hold several in-person meetings this year, which was inspiring and pleasant. Our spacecraft and instruments are healthy, and we already got some very nice science results. On the other hand, the mission remains demanding and challenging on many aspects. At the end of this year, we would like to thank you for the great support during the year, your interest in our mission, and your enthusiasm for our science. All the best and many new discoveries in 2023

 

Elsa, Go, Joe, Santa, and Johannes

Spacecraft 3D Model

Do you want to explore our spacecraft in more detail? If yes click 3D-MODEL

Where is BepiColombo & Attitude Viewer

Interactive 3D tools showing the spacecraft attitude and where the BepiColombo spacecraft is on any given day from launch in October 2018 to just beyond the end of its cruise phase end of 2025. To play with the tools click here.

 

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