BepiColombo spacecraft in orbit around Mercury
Date: 17 January 2011
Copyright: ESA
BepiColombo consists of two spacecraft that will orbit Mercury. The JAXA-led Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO) follows a higher-apocentre orbit and investigates the planet's magnetic field (depicted in blue in this animation). The ESA-led Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) traces a lower-apocentre orbit and is designed to study the planet itself.
Last Update: 1 September 2019