\tEnabling & Support<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t07\/09\/2026
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On 3 September 2026 at 15:49 CEST, the European Space Agency’s\u00a0BepiColombo<\/a>\u00a0Mission Control Team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) received the signal they had been waiting for\u00a0\u2013\u00a0BepiColombo\u2019s\u00a0Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) successfully separated from the\u00a0spacecraft stack<\/a>.\u00a0This landmark achievement for the ESA and\u00a0Japan\u00a0Aerospace Exploration\u00a0Agency\u00a0(JAXA)\u00a0mission marks the\u00a0first step of\u00a0BepiColombo’s\u00a0long-awaited arrival at Mercury.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over the last\u00a0eight\u00a0years,\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0has travelled 9.9 billion kilometres through the inner Solar System and completed\u00a0nine planetary flybys<\/a>\u00a0to reach this historic milestone. Despite parting with the module,\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0would not have made it this far without MTM.\u00a0It carried\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0from Earth to Mercury, providing power and the highly advanced solar electric propulsion\u00a0(SEP<\/a>)\u00a0needed to navigate its complex\u00a0space\u00a0journey. Now, MTM\u2019s\u00a0job is complete.<\/p>\n This separation is the first in a sequence of key manoeuvres that will\u00a0ultimately see\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0become the first mission to place two spacecraft in orbit around Mercury, in December 2026. The mission’s\u00a0Mercury arrival phase<\/a>\u00a0is one of the most complex planetary arrival sequences ever\u00a0attempted\u00a0by ESA.<\/p>\n After an intense day of operations at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, ESA, industry\u00a0partners\u00a0and the mission’s scientific community celebrated the acquisition of signal confirming MTM’s successful separation. Thousands also followed the milestone live on ESA’s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n \t\t\tBepiColombo\u2019s Mercury arrival begins – full replay \tLetting go<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tMTM separation at Mission Control<\/a><\/p>\n In the\u00a0months leading\u00a0up to MTM separation, rigorous\u00a0simulations<\/a>\u00a0challenged the Mission Control Team (MCT) with a wide range of operational scenarios.\u00a0<\/p>\n On 3 September 2026\u00a0came\u00a0the real deal. At 12:00 CEST, the team gave the official “GO” for separation. For those in the Main Control Room, it marked the culmination of months of preparation.<\/p>\n As the expected separation time arrived at 14:00 CEST, silence fell over mission control. The team would have to wait\u00a0nearly two\u00a0hours for confirmation to arrive from 200 million kilometres away.<\/p>\n Following separation, the remaining spacecraft stack entered safe mode,\u00a0readjusted its\u00a0attitude\u00a0and reconfigured\u00a0itself\u00a0before transmitting its status back to Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tPreliminary Doppler signal<\/a><\/p>\n At 14:20 CEST, a\u00a0preliminary\u00a0Doppler signal provided the first\u00a0indication\u00a0that separation had taken place.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We heard\u00a0it\u00a0loud and clear in the voice loop from Flight Dynamics Manager, Frank Budnik, that they could clearly see from the Doppler data that MTM had separated. After all this waiting and preparation, we all looked at each other and hugged. It was\u00a0a very powerful\u00a0moment,” says Emmanuela Bordoni, ESA\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0B-shift Spacecraft Operations Manager.<\/p>\n With ESA’s\u00a0Estrack<\/a>\u00a0Cebreros and\u00a0Malarg\u00fce\u00a0deep-space antennas locked on target, all eyes turned to the incoming telemetry.\u00a0<\/p>\n At 15:49 CEST, mission control received the long-awaited acquisition of signal, prompting cheers and applause.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We are thrilled, but also relieved. Separating two spacecraft from 200 million kilometres away is not something we do every day. We have prepared intensively for this moment, so we are really pleased to have had a perfect separation,” says\u00a0a beaming\u00a0Ignacio “Nacho”\u00a0Clerigo, ESA\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0Spacecraft Operations Manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n \tFarewell MTM<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tA last selfie from MTM’s monitoring camera 1<\/a><\/p>\n Every great collaboration deserves a proper goodbye.\u00a0<\/p>\n On its final day as part of\u00a0BepiColombo, MTM captured its last images, continuing a role it had fulfilled throughout the mission’s journey to Mercury.\u00a0<\/p>\n Alongside its solar arrays and ion thrusters, MTM carried\u00a0three monitoring cameras<\/a>\u00a0that documented the voyage. During the cruise phase, they captured daily snapshots of the spacecraft’s journey through the\u00a0inner\u00a0Solar System.\u00a0<\/p>\n The final images marked the closing entry in an eight-year photo diary and the end of a remarkable\u00a0collaboration\u00a0that carried the mission to Mercury’s doorstep.\u00a0<\/p>\n A full collection of these images is available in the\u00a0ESA Planetary Science Archive<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for MTM, with no antenna or onboard computer of its own, the now inoperable module will remain in a stable orbit around the Sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We feel a bit sad to see our old friend MTM going away. It did an astonishing job bringing MPO and Mio here, but as Freddie Mercury once sang, the show must go on!”\u00a0says\u00a0Nacho.\u00a0<\/p>\n To mark the achievement, the MCT\u00a0took part in one of ESOC’s\u00a0most\u00a0enduring traditions: the sticker ceremony. On the day after separation,\u00a0the team\u00a0gathered to add the MTM sticker\u00a0on\u00a0the Briefing Room\u00a0glass\u00a0door, securing its place among the missions that have shaped ESOC’s history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n “I feel so proud of this team. This is the perfect start to arrival phase,” says\u00a0a smiling\u00a0Santa Mart\u00ednez Sanmart\u00edn, ESA\u00a0BepiColombo\u00a0Mission Manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n \tCarrying the mission<\/p>\n Roughly the size of a small car, the Mercury Transfer Module carried two 15-metre-long solar wings that powered the entire spacecraft stack and propelled it using its highly advanced solar electric propulsion (SEP) system.\u00a0<\/p>\n This technology uses solar energy to turn xenon gas into plasma that is expelled through four ion thrusters. Unlike chemical propulsion, which provides short, powerful bursts of acceleration, SEP delivers gentle but continuous thrust for days, weeks or even months while using far less propellant.\u00a0<\/p>\n This efficiency is what made\u00a0BepiColombo’s\u00a0complex journey to Mercury possible. Along the way, the mission overcame significant challenges.\u00a0BepiColombo’s\u00a0route to Mercury needed a mid-course rethink after an issue reduced the power available from MTM’s solar arrays. Mission teams adapted the trajectory, allowing the spacecraft to remain on track for arrival.\u00a0<\/p>\n On 15 June 2026,\u00a0SEP was switched off<\/a>, bringing MTM’s primary mission to an end and setting up the next major milestone\u00a0which we saw on 3 September\u00a0\u2013\u00a0MTM separation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \tWhat is next for BepiColombo?<\/p>\n
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