Animation visualising BepiColombo’s journey to Mercury

On its seven-year journey to Mercury, the European-Japanese mission BepiColombo takes advantage of the gravity of Earth, Venus and Mercury to adjust its trajectory and reach its final orbit. Launched in 2018, the spacecraft performs overall nine gravity assist flyby manoeuvres (depicted in this animation), before entering orbit around the Solar System's innermost planet in December 2025.

Note: This animation was updated on 13 May 2020 to reflect the updated spacecraft orbit.