End of the blue glow: BepiColombo turns off solar electric propulsion for Mercury arrival

Article excerpt

At 15:24 CEST on 15 June 2026, a faint blue glow in space was switched off for the last time. After powering BepiColombo's eight-year journey across the inner Solar System, the spacecraft's solar electric propulsion (SEP) system completed its final thrust arc, marking the end of BepiColombo’s long cruise phase and the beginning of its arrival at Mercury.