The paper covers the principal requirements, design concepts and implementation of the hardware and software for the central on-board computer (CDMS) of the Philae lander in the context of the ESA Rosetta space mission, including some technical details. The focus is on the implementation of fault tolerance, autonomous operation and operational flexibility by means of specific linked data structures and code execution mechanisms that can be interpreted as a kind of object oriented model for mission sequencing. (C) 2015 IAA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.