BepiColombo is operated by the ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ().The probe launched in 2018 atop an Ariane 5 rocket on an eight-year voyage that will place it in orbit around Mercury.

The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft headed to Mercury can be seen flying low above the atmosphere of Venus in a new video released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on Thursday (Aug. 12).

The BepiColombo Mercury probe made a flyby of its ultimate destination on Wednesday, capturing superb images of the planet's crater-covered crust. The gravity assist maneuver is part of what will ...

Artist’s impression of BepiColombo during its April 2020 Earth flyby. Mio can be seen nestled inside its sunshield. ESA/ATG medialab. On the other side of the orbiter is the Mercury Transfer ...

The probe encountered Mercury in March 1974, September 1974, and March 1975. Its photographs gave humanity its first close-up views of the world, and the last ones we would see for a generation.

A probe is familiarizing itself with the closest planet to the Sun, gearing up to explore Mercury’s heavily cratered surface. The BepiColombo mission recently captured stunning new images of ...

A revised trajectory for BepiColombo means the probe won't begin orbiting Mercury for its science observations until November 2026, one year later than expected. Credit: ESA graphic.

The BepiColombo probe is slated to make a pass of Venus next month, but it will be at a great distance from the planet, possibly minimizing the chances of detecting a biosignature.

On Sunday (Dec. 1), BepiColombo made its fifth of six flybys of Mercury. On this most recent rendezvous, the probe was 200 times farther from the planet than on its previous flyby, which saw it ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The BepiColombo Mercury probe made a flyby of its ultimate destination on Wednesday, capturing ...

BepiColombo made its first Earth and Venus flybys in 2020, and first swung past Mercury on Oct. 1, 2021. After one flyby in 2022 and 2023 each, the probe then made close approaches to Mercury on ...