BepiColombo is a three-part spacecraft consisting of two scientific probes and the Mercury Transfer Module, which are designed to separate from one another as part of the mission’s Mercury orbit insertion operations.

The solar arrays and electric propulsion system on the Mercury Transfer Module are used to generate thrust during the spacecraft’s complex journey from Earth to Mercury.

However, on 26 April, as BepiColombo was scheduled to begin its next manoeuvre, the Transfer Module failed to deliver enough electrical power to the spacecraft’s thrusters.