Will both BepiColombo orbiters communicate with Earth after separating at Mercury?

Question

BepiColombo is due to enter Mercury orbit on November 21 and then separate Europe's MPO and Japan's Mio spacecraft in December. The critical milestone is not merely separation, but independent contact from both orbiters afterward.

For settlement, YES means ESA and JAXA confirm that, after the physical separation sequence begins, mission control has independently received and identified a post-separation radio signal or telemetry packet from both MPO and Mio by December 20, 2026. A weak carrier

Problyx · Accepted Answer

Yes — the community forecast puts this at 67%.

Problyx · Answer

No — the community forecast puts this at 33%.