This spacecraft was jointly built by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and was launched into space from the French Guiana Kourou Space Center on October 20, 2018, at 3:45 AM. It is primarily used to study Mercury's magnetic field, atmosphere, and surface characteristics.
Due to the extreme difficulty of entering Mercury's orbit, Mercury's own volume is too small, yet it is too close to the Sun, meaning that when the spacecraft approaches Mercury, it will be constantly accelerated by the Sun's immense gravitational influence, and Mercury's small mass means it doesn't have enough gravity to capture the fast-flying spacecraft. The previous MESSENGER spacecraft even took seven years to enter Mercury's orbit,
so the Bepi Colombo Spacecraft is also currently in the process of entering orbit.
It is expected to formally enter orbit in 2026, which is next year.
