BepiColombo Faces Thruster Issues En Route to Mercury
ESA and JAXA teams work to stabilize spacecraft propulsion as mission's critical maneuvers approach
- The BepiColombo spacecraft, a joint ESA and JAXA mission to Mercury, is experiencing reduced thruster power.
- The issue was identified on April 26, with power restored to 90% by May 7, but full thrust is still not achieved.
- Teams are working to stabilize propulsion and assess the impact on upcoming maneuvers, including a key Mercury flyby in September.
- The spacecraft's final orbit insertion at Mercury is scheduled for December 2025, with science operations to begin in Spring 2026.
- The mission aims to study Mercury's composition, atmosphere, magnetosphere, and answer key questions about the planet.
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