After three successful flybys of Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft entered orbit about the innermost planet in March. The orbital phase of the mission is enabling the first global perspective on the planet’s geology, surface composition, topography, gravity and magnetic fields, exosphere, magnetosphere, and solar-wind interaction. This session will highlight the latest results on Mercury from MESSENGER observations obtained during the first six months – the first Mercury solar day – in orbit. The session will also look ahead to MESSENGER observations still to come and to the dual-spacecraft BepiColombo mission of ESA and JAXA later this decade. Other papers addressing ground-based observations, laboratory measurements, or theoretical developments relevant to planetary processes at Mercury will be welcomed.