Philae landed on a comet in a pinpoint operation but lost power because its solar-driven batteries were in the shade.
Scientists have given up hope of restoring contact with space probe Philae.
Philae landed on a comet in a pinpoint operation in November 2014 but lost power because its solar-driven batteries were in the shade.
The probe woke up in June as the comet approached the Sun, giving scientists hope that the lander could complete some experiments.
But the German Aerospace Center (DLR) now says Philae is likely to be covered in dust and too cold to operate.
Philae project manager Stephan Ulamec said: "Unfortunately, the probability of Philae re-establishing contact with our team at the DLR Lander Control Center is almost zero, and we will no longer be sending any commands.
"It would be very surprising if we received a signal now."
The project team believes that Philae is likely to be ice-free, but dust means the solar panels that recharge its batteries are unlikely to work.
Night-time temperatures can now fall below -180C as comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko moves away from the Sun.
This is much colder than Philae was designed to withstand.Philae managed to carry out some experiments before it lost power, the results of which have helped reshape how scientists think about comets.
Scientists expect to get one last look at the lander in the summer, when the Rosetta spacecraft snaps some pictures during close fly-by.
Rosetta will land on the comet itself when its mission ends in September.
