European-Japanese Spacecraft Faces Lengthy Delay in Exploring Solar System’s Innermost Planet

  • Thruster issues delay BepiColombo probe’s arrival at Mercury until November 2026
  • Issue caused by unexpected electric currents between MTM solar array and power distributor unit
  • New trajectory planned to maintain baseline scientific mission
  • BepiColombo carries a suite of 16 instruments across two orbiters for studying Mercury

The joint European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft, launched in 2018 to unravel mysteries of Mercury, faces a delay in entering orbit around the innermost planet due to thruster issues. The spacecraft’s reduced thrust has led to a revised trajectory and new arrival date of November 2026. BepiColombo carries 16 instruments across two orbiters developed by ESA and JAXA for studying Mercury.

Factuality Level: 9
Factuality Justification: The article provides accurate and objective information about BepiColombo spacecraft’s thruster issues and the revised trajectory for entering orbit around Mercury. It also explains the cause of the issue and the workaround devised by ESA’s Flight Dynamics team. The article is focused on the main topic without any digressions, irrelevant information or personal opinions.
Noise Level: 7
Noise Justification: The article provides relevant information about the BepiColombo spacecraft’s thruster issues and the revised trajectory for entering orbit around Mercury. However, it contains some repetitive information and could benefit from more in-depth analysis or discussion of the implications of the delay on the mission’s scientific goals and timeline.
Public Companies: European Space Agency (), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ()
Key People: Santa Martinez (BepiColombo mission manager), Johannes Benkhoff (BepiColombo project scientist)

Financial Relevance: No
Financial Markets Impacted: No
Financial Rating Justification: The article discusses a space mission and its adjustments due to technical issues, which does not have any direct impact on financial markets or companies.
Presence Of Extreme Event: No
Nature Of Extreme Event: Other
Impact Rating Of The Extreme Event: Minor
Extreme Rating Justification: There is no extreme event mentioned in the article. The issue with BepiColombo’s thrusters may cause a delay in its mission, but it does not have significant impact on the spacecraft or the mission itself.
Move Size: No market move size mentioned.
Sector: No
Direction: Neutral
Magnitude: Small
Affected Instruments: No

Reported publicly: www.space.com