The European Space Agency says it has decided on the spot where it will attempt the first landing on a comet, a manoeuvre that is one of the key elements of a decade-long mission.

The Paris-based agency plans to drop the 220lb lander, called Philae, from its Rosetta space probe in November.

Scientists unanimously picked the landing spot, from five considered, on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko based on its relatively safe terrain, although project chiefs say that the risk remains high.