Arianespace to boost Rosetta on interplanetary mission

Jean-Marie Luton, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace and Antonio Rodot, Director General of the European SpaceAgency, have signed a contract at the Paris Air Show for the launch of the Rosetta scientific spacecraft. Arianespace will launch the spacecraft on its 8-year journey to rendezvous with the comet 46P/Wirtanen.

Rosetta, which is one of the European Space Agency's Planetary Cornerstone missions, will be launched by a dedicated Ariane 5 in mid-January 2003 from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, into a liberation point orbit. This mission will benefit from the extended coast phase provided by the Ariane 5 EPS upper stage.

Rosetta will swing by the Earth twice, and Mars once, using their gravity to provide the energy needed for its long voyage and send it on the right path. During its eight-year voyage, Rosetta will perform flybys of two asteroids, Otawara and Siwa. The duration of the mission will require the onboard instruments to be placed into hibernation for long periods. Rendezvous manoeuvres with the comet 46P/Wirtanen are planned for November 2011. Rosetta's primary mission is to study the comet's nucleus and environment. In 2012, a lander carried by the spacecraft will actually land on the surface of the comet.

The Rosetta spacecraft will be built under the industrial responsibility of ASTRIUM GmbH. A box type structure measuring 2.8 x 2.1 x 2.0 meters, it will weigh approximately 3,000 kg. at launch. The upper part of the spacecraft will be equipped with the payload instruments, while subsystems will be installed in the base. Two solar panels, each covering 32 mư, will give this interplanetary craft a total "wingspan" of more than 32 meters.

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