Comet Interceptor
The Comet Interceptor is a robotic spacecraft mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) planned for launch in 2029. The spacecraft will be "parked" at the Sun-Earth L2 point and wait for up to three years for a long-period comet to fly by at a reachable trajectory and speed.
Mission type | Comet flyby |
---|---|
Operator | ESA / JAXA |
Website | www |
Mission duration | ≈ 5 years |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Comet Interceptor |
Launch mass | Approx. 850 kg (1,870 lb). |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 2029 (planned) |
Rocket | Ariane 62 |
Launch site | Kourou ELA-4 |
Contractor | Arianespace |
Flyby of a long-period comet yet to be selected | |
The Principal Investigator is Geraint Jones, from the Mullard Space Science Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The maximum cost of the spacecraft bus is set at €150M, excluding science instruments and launch services.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.