Missions to comets

robotic space probe which orbited comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

robotic European Space Agency lander that accompanied the Rosetta spacecraft

retired ESA spacecraft which visited Comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup

NASA robotic space probe that studied the Sun

space probe launched by NASA in 1999

NASA space probe launched in 2005 to study comet Tempel 1

spacecraft

American magnetospheric research satellite

The Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) was a NASA Discovery-class space probe that failed shortly after its July 2002 launch. It was the only Discovery mission to fail.

Tianwen-2 () is a Chinese asteroid sample return and comet exploration mission that launched on 28 May 2025. The China National Space Agency (CNSA) plans for the probe to return samples from 469219 Kamoʻoalewa—a near-Earth asteroid that is currently a quasi-satellite of Earth—in 2027. After the mothership drops off the sample return vessel to Earth, it is planned to rendezvous with the main-belt comet 311P/PanSTARRS and explore it with its 11 onboard instruments.

space probes

EPOXI was a compilation of NASA Discovery program missions led by the University of Maryland and principal investigator Michael A'Hearn, with co-operation from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ball Aerospace. EPOXI uses the Deep Impact spacecraft in a campaign consisting of two missions: the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI) and Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization (EPOCh). DIXI aimed to send the Deep Impact spacecraft on a flyby of another comet, after its primary mission was completed in July 2005, while EPOCh saw the spacecraft's photographic instruments as a space ob

first fast mission of Cosmic Vision; multi-spacecraft reconnaissance of long-period comets or interstellar objects

DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science) is a planned mission to fly by the Geminids meteor shower parent body 3200 Phaethon, and sample dust originating from the "rock comet". The spacecraft is being developed by the Japanese space agency JAXA and will demonstrate advanced technologies for future deep space exploration. As of October 2024, DESTINY+ is planned to be launched in fiscal year 2028.

mission proposed to NASA and known as CHopper

proposed sample-return mission to a comet

proposed space mission to collect material from an asteroid

Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby. Cancelled NASA mission plan