The Philae probe from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission has landed successfully on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The probe was controlled from Earth thanks to technology provided by several Spanish companies.

This historic moment took place on November 12th when confirmation reached the European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany. This was the culmination of a ten-year journey through interplanetary space, and is the first time that mankind has been able to land a device on a comet while it was in orbit. A number of Spanish companies have participated in this landing, which represents an unprecedented milestone in space exploration.

Landing on the comet was controlled from Earth by a team of engineers including representatives of the Spanish group GMV, which provided key support during the mission’s conceptual phase that began years before launch ever took place. The company was also involved in the planning of scientific operations, control of planning for three different instruments and operational preparation for the mission’s main phase (the ‘comet phase’).

Also involved in the project was Spain’s Sener, which supplied two deployable booms, 15 active thermal-control louvres, the electronic control unit of the entire GIADA instrument (Grain Impact Analyzer and Dust Accumulator), the optical screens for mitigating the incident radiation on the two navigation cameras and the two star trackers, the design and integration of the control electronics unit and the filter wheel mechanism (FWM) of the two cameras – NAC and WAC – of the OSIRIS instrument (Optical Spectroscopic and Infrared Remote Imaging System, which is responsible for providing images of the comet), among other components.

In addition to the aforementioned companies, the Rosetta mission also enjoyed the collaboration of Spanish scientific entities such as the Andalusia Astrophysics Institute (Instituto Astrofísico de Andalucía), the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Spain’s National Institute for Aerospace Technology INTA and the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid or UPM).

Companies including Crisa, Deimos Space, Thales Alenia Space España, Rymsa Espacio and Airbus Defence and Space España, also participated in this space mission.