The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Comets are time capsules, made up of primitive material left over from the birth of the Solar System, 4.6 billion years ago.
On 6 August 2014 ESA’s Rosetta mission became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet, opening a new chapter in Solar System exploration.
Providing a wealth of data on the gas, dust and structure of the nucleus and organic materials associated with Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, Rosetta will help unlock the history and evolution of our Solar System.
Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, 3 February 2015
© ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
Rosetta in test at ESTEC, 2002
Comet 67P and Rosetta, October 2014
Credits: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA
Comet 67P on 18 February 2015
© ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0