List of missions to comets

As of 2013, the United States, Soviet Union, Japan and the European Space Agency have conducted missions to comets.

Spacecraft	Launch Date[1]	Operator	Comet	Mission	Outcome	Remarks	Carrier rocket[2]
ICE (ISEE-3)	12 August 1978	NASA United States / ESA	21P/Giacobini–Zinner	Flyby	Successful	Extended mission; Closest approach of 7,862 kilometres (4,885 mi) at 11:02 UTC on 11 September 1985. Also made distant observations of 1P/Halley in May 1986.[3]	Delta 2914
Vega 1 (5VK No.901)	15 December 1984	Soviet Union	1P/Halley	Flyby	Successful	Flew past Halley after visiting Venus; closest approach 8,889 kilometres (5,523 mi) at 07:20:06 UTC on 6 March 1986.[4]	Proton-K/D-1
Vega 2 (5VK No.902)	21 December 1984	Soviet Union	1P/Halley	Flyby	Successful	Flew past Halley after visiting Venus; closest approach at 07:20 UTC on 9 March 1986.[5]	Proton-K/D-1
Sakigake (MS-T5)	7 January 1985	ISAS Japan	1P/Halley	Flyby	Successful	Closest approach of 6.99 million kilometres (4.34 million miles) at 04:18 UTC on 11 March 1986.[6]	Mu-3S-II
Giotto	2 July 1985	ESA	1P/Halley	Flyby	Successful	Closest approach of 605 kilometres (376 mi) at 00:03:02 UTC on 14 March 1986.[7]	Ariane 1
	2 July 1985	ESA	26P/Grigg–Skjellerup	Flyby	Successful	Extended mission. Closest approach of 200 kilometres (120 mi) at 15:30 UTC on 10 July 1992.[7]
Suisei (PLANET-A)	19 August 1985	ISAS Japan	1P/Halley	Flyby	Successful	Closest approach of 152,400 kilometres (94,700 mi) at 13:06 UTC on 8 March 1986[8]	Mu-3S-II
	19 August 1985	ISAS Japan	21P/Giacobini–Zinner	Flyby	Spacecraft failure (Extended mission)	Extended mission, spacecraft ran out of fuel en route; flyby had been scheduled for 24 November 1998[8]
Deep Space 1	24 October 1998	NASA United States	107P/Wilson–Harrington[9]	Flyby	Spacecraft failure	Spacecraft was unable to reach Wilson–Harrington due to ion engine operation being suspended while a problem with the probe's star tracker was investigated.[10]	Delta II 7326
	24 October 1998	NASA United States	19P/Borrelly	Flyby	Successful	Extended mission
Stardust (Discovery 4)	7 February 1999	NASA United States	81P/Wild	Flyby Sample return	Successful		Delta II 7426
	7 February 1999	NASA United States	9P/Tempel	Flyby	Successful	Extended mission, Stardust-NExT, to survey crater caused by Deep Impact
CONTOUR (Discovery 6)	3 July 2002	NASA United States	2P/Encke	Flyby	Spacecraft failure		Delta II 7425
	3 July 2002	NASA United States	73P/Schwassmann–Wachmann	Flyby	Spacecraft failure
	3 July 2002	NASA United States	6P/d'Arrest	Flyby	Spacecraft failure	Flyby provisionally scheduled at time of spacecraft's failure
Rosetta	2 March 2004	ESA	67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko	Orbiter	Successful	Entered orbit around 67P at 09:06 UTC on 6 August 2014. On 30 September 2016 mission ended in an attempt to slow land on the comet's surface near a 130 m (425 ft) wide pit called Deir el-Medina.	Ariane 5G+
Philae	2 March 2004	ESA / DLR Germany	67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko	Lander	Mostly successful	Carried by Rosetta. Came to rest on the surface of 67P at 17:32 UTC on 12 November 2014. Communications ceased with the loss of battery power at 00:36 UTC on 15 November 2014 and the lander began hibernating. Reactivated on solar power and briefly established contact with ground control again at 20:28 UTC on 13 June 2015, and sporadically until 9 July 2015 when the last communication was received.[11][12]	Ariane 5G+
Deep Impact (Discovery 7)	12 January 2005	NASA United States	9P/Tempel	Flyby/Impactor	Successful	Impact occurred at 05:52 UTC on 4 July 2005.	Delta II 7925
	12 January 2005	NASA United States	103P/Hartley	Flyby	Successful	Extended mission (EPOXI)

See also

• List of missions to minor planets (includes asteroids)
• List of minor planets and comets visited by spacecraft

References

1. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
2. Krebs, Gunter. "Interplanetary Probes". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
3. "Solar System Exploration - ISEE-3/ICE". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
4. "Solar System Exploration - Vega 1". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
5. "Solar System Exploration - Vega 2". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
6. "Solar System Exploration - Sakigake". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
7. "Solar System Exploration - Giotto". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
8. "Solar System Exploration - Suisei". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
9. Wilson-Harrington is catalogued as both a comet and an asteroid
10. "Solar System Exploration - Deep Space 1". NASA. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
11. "Rosetta's lander Philae wakes up from hibernation". European Space Agency, Rosetta Blog. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
12. Baldwin, Emily (20 July 2015). "Rosetta and Philae status update". European Space Agency. Retrieved 11 August 2015.