Timeline of Comet Exploration.

Various views of comet 67P from the Rosetta Spacecraft. Credit: ESA

Past Events

• December 25, 1758: First predicted perihelion of Halley's Comet
• September 11, 1985: ICE performs first Comet flyby
• January 7, 1985: Launch of Sakigake
• July 2, 1985: Launch of Giotto
• August 18, 1985: Launch of Suisei
• March 6, 1986: Vega 1 flyby of Halley's Comet
• March 7, 1986: Vega 2 flyby of Halley's Comet
• March 8, 1986: Suisei flyby of Halley's Comet
• March 11, 1986: Sakigake flyby of Halley's Comet
• March 14, 1986: Giotto flyby of Halley's Comet
• March 28, 1986: ICE flyby of Halley's Comet
• July 10, 1992: Giotto flyby of 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup
• August 30, 1992: First minor Kuiper Belt Object discovered: 15760 Albion
• July 1984: Shoemaker-Levy 9 fragments impact Jupiter
• February 7, 1999: Launch of Stardust
• September 22, 2001: Deep Space 1 flyby of Borrelly's Comet
• July 3, 2002: Launch of CONTOUR
• August 15, 2002: Breakup of CONTOUR
• January 2, 2004: Stardust flyby of Wild 2
• March 2, 2004: Launch of Rosetta
• January 12, 2005: Launch of Deep Impact
• July 4, 2005: Deep Impact impacts Tempel 1 with impactor
• November 4, 2010: Deep Impact flyby of Hartley 2
• February 14, 2011: Stardust flyby of Tempel 1
• August 6, 2014: Rosetta arrives at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
• November 12, 2014: Philae lands on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
• September 29, 2016: Rosetta lands on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
• October 19, 2017: Discovery of first interstellar object: 'Oumuamua
• January 1, 2019: New Horizons flyby of Arrokoth (Ultima Thule)
• August 30, 2019: Discovery of first interstellar comet: 2I/Borisov

Future Events

• Mid-to-late 2020s: New Horizons flyby of second Kuiper Belt Object?
• 2029: Launch of Comet Interceptor
• 2032: Tianwen-2 arrives at 311P/PanSTARRS
• 2061: Halley's Comet next close approach to Earth