Completed · Success
ESA's Rosetta was the first mission to rendezvous with a comet, the first to follow one around the Sun, and the first to deploy a lander to a comet's surface. Launched 2 March 2004 on an Ariane 5 G+ from Kourou, it used three Earth gravity assists and one Mars gravity assist, flew past asteroids Steins and Lutetia, hibernated for 31 months, and arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 6 August 2014. It released the Philae lander on 12 November 2014 and ended with a controlled descent onto the comet on 30 September 2016.
- Destinations
- Launch vehicle
- Ariane 5 G+
- Launch site
- Kourou, French Guiana
- Countries
- Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, United States
- Mission types
- Orbiter, Lander, Flyby
Chronology
Mission timeline
Launch
Launch on Ariane 5 G+ from Kourou
Rosetta launched on 2 March 2004 at 07:17 UT on an Ariane 5 G+ from Europe's spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.
EarthGravity assist
First Earth gravity assist
First of three Earth gravity assists used to shape the trajectory toward Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
EarthGravity assist
Mars gravity assist
The only Mars gravity assist of the mission, one of four gravity-assist manoeuvres (three Earth, one Mars) en route to the comet.
MarsMilestone
Enters deep space hibernation
Rosetta was placed in deep space hibernation for the coldest, most distant leg of its cruise.
Milestone
Exits deep space hibernation
Rosetta woke from 31 months of hibernation and resumed operations ahead of the comet rendezvous manoeuvres of May-August 2014.
Milestone
Rendezvous with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Rosetta became the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous with a comet, arriving 100 km from the nucleus after ten years, five months and four days of travel covering 6.4 billion kilometres and five loops around the Sun.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoDeployment
Philae released from Rosetta
Deployment of the Philae lander was confirmed at 09:03 GMT (10:03 CET) on 12 November 2014 at a distance of 22.5 km from the centre of the comet, beginning a roughly seven-hour descent.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoDeployment
Philae separates for descent to the comet
Spacecraft UTC from the original flight-dynamics event table; Earth-reception times and TDB ancillary table epochs are separate.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoLanding
Philae lands on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Philae first touched down at Agilkia. Its harpoons did not fire and the active descent system was unavailable. The later ESA reconstruction describes four surface contacts, including a cliff collision, before final rest at Abydos. Earth received the first-touchdown confirmation at16:03GMT.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoOther
Philae collides with a cliff during its rebound
Spacecraft UTC from the original flight-dynamics event table; Earth-reception times and TDB ancillary table epochs are separate.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoLanding
Philae makes another surface contact
Spacecraft UTC from the original flight-dynamics event table; Earth-reception times and TDB ancillary table epochs are separate.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoLanding
Philae comes to rest at Abydos
Spacecraft UTC from the original flight-dynamics event table; Earth-reception times and TDB ancillary table epochs are separate.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoLoss of contact
Philae falls silent as its primary battery is exhausted
Philae completed 80% of its planned first science sequence before falling into hibernation in the early hours of 15 November 2014 when the primary battery was exhausted.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoMilestone
Philae wakes from hibernation and contacts Earth
Signals from Philae were received at ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt at 22:28 CEST on 13 June 2015. Philae 'spoke' with its team for 85 seconds, via Rosetta, in the first contact since going into hibernation in November 2014.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoMilestone
Comet 67P reaches perihelion with Rosetta escorting it
Closest approach to the Sun for Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, observed by Rosetta from close quarters.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoMilestone
Philae located in Rosetta imagery
Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera imaged Philae wedged into a dark crack on the comet at Abydos on the smaller lobe, less than a month before the end of the mission.
67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoMission end
Controlled descent onto the comet ends the mission
Rosetta carried out its final manoeuvre the previous night at 20:50 GMT (22:50 CEST), setting it on a collision course with the comet from an altitude of about 19 km, targeting a region on the small lobe close to a region of active pits in the Ma'at region. Confirmation of the end of the mission arrived at ESA's control centre in Darmstadt at 11:19 GMT (13:19 CEST) with the loss of Rosetta's signal upon impact.
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Mission architecture
Vehicles
Rosetta orbiter · Orbiter · Ended mission with a controlled descent onto the comet on 30 September 2016; launch mass 2900 kg including 1670 kg propellant and 165 kg science payload
Destinations: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Earth, Mars, 2867 Steins, 21 Lutetia
Philae · Lander · Landed 12 November 2014 at Agilkia, bounced and came to rest at Abydos; hibernated 15 November 2014, briefly re-contacted 13 June 2015, imaged in place 2 September 2016. Mass 100 kg
Destinations: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Trajectory record
Time-dependent navigation trajectory
Source states place the model at the selected time. Reconstructed flight, estimates, predictions and historical mission plans are identified by interval; gaps remain visible.
Source records and sampling assumptions are retained with the repository data. Model attitude and surface appearance are illustrative.
- Philae: Reconstructed · November 13, 2014 to October 3, 2016
- Rosetta: Predicted · August 3, 2014 to September 30, 2016
Provenance
Sources
Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.
Data verified through October 10, 2026
- Rosetta factsheet — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · destination/body context · event claims
- Fact Sheet - Rosetta (ESA Science & Technology portal) — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Rosetta overview — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · destination/body context · event claims
- Rosetta arrives at comet destination — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Touchdown! Rosetta's Philae probe lands on comet — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Philae's extraordinary comet landing relived — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Rosetta and Philae: one year since landing on a comet — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Rosetta's lander Philae wakes up from hibernation — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Philae found! — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Mission complete: Rosetta's journey ends in daring descent to comet — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- Philae's first touchdown seen by Rosetta — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- ORHR_______________00122.BSP embedded DAF comment area (Rosetta orbiter cruise ephemeris), NAIF PDS SPICE archive (RO-E/M/A/C-SPICE-6-V1.0) — NAIFSpice · Supports: mission claims · trajectory claims
- SPKINFO.TXT, SPK contents of the Rosetta NAIF PDS SPICE archive (RO-E/M/A/C-SPICE-6-V1.0) — NAIFSpice · Supports: mission claims · trajectory claims
- Rosetta Navigation at its Mars Swing-By (Budnik and Morley, ESA/ESOC; 20th International Symposium on Space Flight Dynamics, 2007) — OTHERPaper · Supports: mission claims · trajectory claims
- Rosetta Status Report - May 2007 (ESA Science & Technology) — ESAMission page · Supports: mission claims · trajectory claims
- Rosetta original identity, vehicle hardware and chronology — NSSDCAMission page · Supports: mission claims
- Philae original descent, rebound and surface ancillary archive, version2 — ESAArchive · Supports: mission claims
- Philae surface-pose correction and revised final position — ESATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- Philae original trajectory, clock, attitude and mechanism definitions — ESATechnical document · Supports: mission claims · event claims
- The Rosetta SPICE Kernel Dataset — ESATechnical document · Supports: mission claims
- 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — NASAMission page · Supports: destination/body context
- Planet Sizes and Locations in Our Solar System — NASAOther · Supports: destination/body context