Japan’s space agency says its MIO space probe will reach Mercury a year behind schedule, in November 2026, due to a mechanical glitch.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, and the European Space Agency, or ESA, launched their respective orbiters aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in a joint mission to Mercury in 2018.
The MIO probe and ESA’s MPO are using swing-by maneuvers that take advantage of the gravity of Earth, Venus and Mercury itself to reach orbit around the solar system’s innermost planet.
JAXA announced on Tuesday that the mission has been delayed by a malfunction that has prevented the ESA module’s thruster from operating at full power.
The probes were initially scheduled to reach their destination in December 2025, but the new target date is nearly a year later.
JAXA officials say the delay does not affect MIO’s mission. The probe is designed to spend a year in Mercury’s orbit, collecting data on its magnetic field.
This data is expected to shed light on Mercury’s composition.