What Happened
ESA Spacecraft Completes Nine Planetary Flybys En Route
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) BepiColombo mission has been traveling through the inner Solar System for eight years, aligning itself with Mercury’s orbit. The spacecraft has completed nine planetary flybys, including one pass by Earth, two by Venus, and six by Mercury. BepiColombo’s arrival at Mercury began on 3 September 2026, with the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) separating from the spacecraft stack. The mission is expected to enter orbit around Mercury in November, with the two stacked orbiters separating from each other in December. This milestone was reported by the ESA.