BepiColombo to Probe Up to 1 Trillion Tonnes of Mercury Ice as Orbit Nears in November 2026
Updated
Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 25
BepiColombo to Probe Up to 1 Trillion Tonnes of Mercury Ice as Orbit Nears in November 2026
2 articles · Updated · spacedaily.com · Jul 25
Summary
BepiColombo is set to enter Mercury orbit in November 2026 and begin science operations in April 2027, targeting the planet’s polar ice deposits with new measurements of the surface, composition and polar environment.
MESSENGER data indicate Mercury’s permanently shadowed polar craters hold roughly 20 billion to 1 trillion metric tonnes of water ice, a wide range driven by uncertainty over deposit thickness, purity and extent.
Those deposits survive because Mercury’s axis is barely tilted and its deep polar craters never receive direct sunlight; with almost no atmosphere to move heat, some surfaces stay below about 100 kelvin.
Radar-bright ice appears in only about 43% to 46% of mapped permanent shadow, suggesting darkness preserves water but does not supply it; impacts, solar-wind chemistry and crustal release remain leading sources.
The mission could clarify how deep and pure the ice is and whether it records one major delivery episode or a long history of volatile transport in the inner Solar System.