The Rosetta comet exploration spacecraft, the launch of which was delayed due to problems with the Ariane 5 rocket, will now be sent to rendezvous with Comet Churyumov- Gerasimenko instead of the original target of Comet Wirtanen, the European Space Agency announced.

The spacecraft will be launched in February 2004 from Kourou, French Guiana, using an Ariane 5 G+ launcher. The rendezvous with the new target comet is expected in November 2014.