Europe, Japan plan joint mission to Mercury for 2018
European and Japanese space agencies are building a joint mission to solar system's smallest and "least explored" rocky planet Mercury. Two spacecraft, one each for ESA and JAXA, are scheduled to launch in October 2018 and would reach Mercury's orbit seven years later, enduring 350ÂºC temperature. This third mission to Mercury would build up on NASA's 1974-75 and 2008-09 missions.