As originally envisaged, the joint NASA/CNES Champollion was to be one of two surface science packages for the Rosetta mission to comet Wirtanen, alongside the German-led RoLand.

In this version, Champollion would be a stand-alone project consisting of an orbiter and a lander, with the focus shifted somewhat to engineering validation of new technologies rather than pure science.

The sample return element of the mission was at this point contingent on sufficient funding/resources, possibly being replaced with a demonstration of related capabilities.

The lander was approximately 1.5m high weighing 160 kg; it was to autonomously navigate to the comet from 50 km altitude and anchor itself with a spike.

Later in 1999, Space Technology 4 was scaled back to a single spacecraft[4] with no sample return; it was cancelled entirely on July 1, 1999, due to budgetary constraints.