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Because of the Sun’s mbadive gravitational pull, the energy needed to reach Mercury is equivalent to getting to Pluto. The Ariane 5 isn’t nearly powerful enough to achieve this by itself, nor are the onboard ion thrusters, but BepiColumbo will reach the necessary speed by means of a series of slingshot maneuvers that involve a flyby of Earth in April 2020, two of Venus in October 2020 and August 2021, and six flybys of Mercury itself between 2021 and 2025, before the probe finally arrives in orbit on December 5, 2025.
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