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Mission record

Rosetta

ESA, DLR, CNES · Launched

Explore trajectory

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
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
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

  1. 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.

    Earth

  2. Gravity assist

    First Earth gravity assist

    First of three Earth gravity assists used to shape the trajectory toward Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

    Earth

  3. Gravity 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.

    Mars

  4. Gravity assist

    Second Earth gravity assist

    Earth

  5. Flyby

    Flyby of asteroid (2867) Steins

    First asteroid flyby of the mission. No celestial-body ID exists in this atlas for Steins, so no bodyId is recorded.

  6. Gravity assist

    Third Earth gravity assist

    Earth

  7. Flyby

    Flyby of asteroid (21) Lutetia

    Second asteroid flyby of the mission. No celestial-body ID exists in this atlas for Lutetia, so no bodyId is recorded.

  8. Milestone

    Enters deep space hibernation

    Rosetta was placed in deep space hibernation for the coldest, most distant leg of its cruise.

  9. 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.

  10. 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-Gerasimenko

  11. Deployment

    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-Gerasimenko

  12. Landing

    Philae lands on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

    The first soft landing on a comet. The signal confirming successful touchdown arrived on Earth at 16:03 GMT (17:03 CET) on 12 November 2014, at a landing site named Agilkia on the head of the double-lobed nucleus. The anchoring harpoons did not fire and Philae made contact with the surface three times, rebounding from Agilkia before coming to rest at a site later named Abydos on the comet's smaller lobe.

    67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

  13. Loss 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-Gerasimenko

  14. Milestone

    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-Gerasimenko

  15. Milestone

    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-Gerasimenko

  16. Milestone

    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-Gerasimenko

  17. Mission 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

    • 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

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through August 23, 2026