Philae probe. Computer artwork of the Philae probe on the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko. The probe will be part of the Rosetta mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), scheduled to launch in February 2004. Rosetta will take 14 years to reach the comet, when it will drop Philae onto its surface. It will then perform measurements on the chemical and physical characteristics of its nucleus, which is composed of material from the early history of the Solar System.