BepiColombo

Launch Success

Liftoff Time (GMT)

01:45:28

Saturday October 20, 2018

Watch Replay

Official Livestream

Mission Details

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Launch Notes

Flight VA245. First European mission to Mercury.

BepiColombo

Wiki

BepiColombo is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to the planet Mercury. The mission comprises two satellites to be launched together: the Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) and Mio (Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, MMO). The mission will perform a comprehensive study of Mercury, including its magnetic field, magnetosphere, interior structure, and surface. It is scheduled for arrival at Mercury in December 2025, after a flyby of Earth, two flybys of Venus, and six flybys of Mercury. The mission was approved in November 2009, after years of proposal and planning as part of the European Space Agency's Horizon 2000+ program; it will be the last mission of the program to be launched.

Heliocentric Orbit

1 Payload

4,241 kilograms

Rocket

Retired
Ariane 5 ECA

Active 2002 to 2023

European Space Agency logo

Manufacturer

ESA

Price

$200.00 million

Rocket

Diameter: 5.4m

Height: 53m

Payload to Orbit

LEO: 21,000 kg

GTO: 10,500 kg

Liftoff Thrust

15,120 Kilonewtons

Fairing

Diameter: 5.4m

Height: 17m

Stages

2

Strap-ons

2

Launch Site

ELA-3

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

Fastest Turnaround

24 days 3 hours

Stats

Ariane 5


101st

Mission

5th

Mission of 2018

European Space Agency


262nd

Mission

7th

Mission of 2018

2018


81st

Orbital launch attempt