![]() It’s fantastic to get the green light for the mission after almost four years of hard work since the European Space Agency’s invitation to propose came out. The comet’s surface will be largely unchanged since the time of the Solar System’s formation several billion years ago, and I can’t wait to see that uncharted territory sometime in the 2030s. We should get our first glimpse of a truly pristine body with this mission – an invaluable example of the objects that came together to form the Earth and other planets. Professor Geraint Jones, from the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, said: The mission was first proposed by an international team led by University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) in Surrey and the University of Edinburgh. After an intensive period working on the mission design feasibility and definition, we are ready to move forward to the full implementation stage.Ĭomet Interceptor will not only further our understanding of the evolution of comets but help unlock the mysteries of the Universe. This is a huge milestone for the Comet Interceptor mission. ![]() ![]() The Comet Interceptor mission was formally adopted by the European Space Agency (ESA) at a meeting in Madrid today (Wednesday, 8 June 2022), moving from the design phase to implementation, with the next step to select a contractor to build the spacecraft and a robotic probe.ĭue for launch in 2029, it will see one main spacecraft and two robotic probes – the other built by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) – travel to an as-yet unidentified comet and map it in three dimensions.Ĭaroline Harper, Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency, said:
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