Win a trip to ESA to witness BepiColombo arrive at Mercury

The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission has entered its Mercury arrival phase after an eight-year cruise toward the planet. The spacecraft consists of three stacked elements: ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO, nicknamed Bepi), JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio), and the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM) that powered and steered them. Their journey included nine planetary flybys—one past Earth, two past Venus, and six past Mercury.

A series of critical steps will bring the two orbiters into their science orbits over the coming months. On 3 September, the MTM released the two orbiters and bade them farewell. On 21 November, MPO and Mio, still joined, will be captured by Mercury's gravity. On 9–10 December, the two will part ways, with Mio already in its science operation orbit. On 19 March 2027, MPO will reach its final science orbit. The separation on 9–10 December 2026 will officially mark BepiColombo's arrival at Mercury.

To celebrate, ESA is inviting the public to craft a welcoming message—a drawing, song, poem, or any other art form submitted as a photo or video. The winner will receive a trip to an event on 9 December in Darmstadt, Germany, at ESA's Space Operations Centre. The event runs from 22:00 CET until after midnight, offering a chance to meet the BepiColombo teams and experience the tense moment of receiving the first signal from the spacecraft after separation.

To enter, participants must share their creation on a social media channel of their choice with the hashtag #WelcomeToMercury, explaining to their community what the BepiColombo mission means to them or their favourite thing about it. They must also submit the URL of their public post via the entry form by 25 October 2026. Updates are available by following ESA on Bluesky, LinkedIn, and X.