Rosetta comet crash ends historic mission

The 12-year space trek of Rosetta has ended as the craft crashed landed on the comet it has been chasing for so long.

Europe's comet-chasing space probe Rosetta is about to land on the icy surface of an alien world. (AAP)

The European Space Agency said the Rosetta spacecraft has crash-landed on a comet after an historic 12 years spent chasing it across more than 6 billion kilometres of space.

Scientists at the control centre in Darmstadt clapped and hugged after screens showed the loss of signal as Rosetta touched down on the comet.

"Thank you Rosetta," ESA Director General Jan Woerner tweeted after the landing was confirmed.