ESTEC – Spaceflight Now

February 8, 2026

Breaking News

[ February 8, 2026 ] SpaceX test fires its Falcon 9 rocket ahead of midweek launch of Crew-12 to the space station Falcon 9
[ February 7, 2026 ] SpaceX launches return to flight Falcon 9 mission following brief stand down Falcon 9
[ February 6, 2026 ] SpaceX shifts away from Dragon launches at pad 39A as Starship looms News
[ February 6, 2026 ] ULA offloads first Vulcan rocket at Vandenberg at it preps its next Cape launch Mission Reports
[ February 3, 2026 ] NASA waves off February launch for Artemis II moon mission; now targeting early March Mission Reports

BepiColombo Mercury mission tested for journey into ‘pizza oven’

July 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

Three spacecraft built in Europe and Japan have completed their final joint tests to ensure they are ready for departure to Mercury on an Ariane 5 rocket late next year on the nearly $1.9 billion BepiColombo mission to survey the solar system’s innermost planet.