BepiColombo - orbit and timeline

BepiColombo mission to Mercury is scheduled to launch on 20 October 2018 and to arrive at Mercury on 5 December 2025. The mission is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). BepiColombo consists of two scientific orbiters: ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and JAXA’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO). BepiColombo will be launched by an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle (Ariane Flight VA245) from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) at Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on 20 October 2018, at 01:45 UTC (19 October, at 22:45 local time). Credit: ESA/ATG medialab #BepiColombo BepiColombo orbit BepiColombo trajectory BepiColombo journey BepiColombo timeline