Member states of the European Space Agency made the decision at a two-day meeting of the European Space Agency at ESA headquarters in Paris, the BBC reported Thursday.

Europe is an 8 percent partner in the ISS project with the United States, Russia, Japan and Canada.

"This is the formal acceptance from the member states that the space station will last until 2020 and will be supported financially; and that is really excellent news," ESA space station manager Bernardo Patti said.

All five ISS participants said last year they wanted to see the platform continue flying beyond 2015, but Europe had until now struggled to obtain an agreement on funding from its member states.

The 10 ESA nations that subscribe to the station project approved a further $770 million sum to supplement the $1.9 billion funding package approved in 2008.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

SES And ILS Announce Launch Of SES-6 On ILS Proton In 2013 LockMary To Launch DigitalGlobe WorldView-3 Earth Imaging Satellite ORBCOMM And SpaceX Set Plans To Launch Satellites On Next Falcon 9 Arianespace's Success Is Built On Transparency Next Mars Rover Gets A Test Taste Of Mars Conditions Alternatives Have Begun In Bid To Hear From Spirit Opportunity Completes Study Of Ruiz Garcia Rock Time Is Now For Human Mission To Mars 84 Teams To Compete In NASA Great Moonbuggy Race A New View Of Moon Super Full Moon LRO Delivers Treasure Trove Of Data Later, Uranus: New Horizons Passes Another Planetary Milestone Can WISE Find The Hypothetical Tyche In Distant Oort Cloud Theory: Solar system has another planet Launch Plus Five Years: A Ways Traveled, A Ways To Go Report Identifies Priorities For Planetary Science 2013-2022 Planetary Society Statement On Planetary Science Decadal Survey For 2013-2022 Meteorite Tells Of How Planets Are Born In A Swirl Of Dust Planet Formation In Action Commercial Rocket Engine Testing Continues At NASA Center X-37B - This Is Only A Test SpaceX Expanding Texas Operations Andrews Space Awarded USAF Reusable Booster System Study Contract What Future for Chang'e-2 China setting up new rocket production base China's Tiangong-1 To Be Launched By Modified Long March II-F Rocket China Expects To Launch Fifth Lunar Probe Chang'e-5 In 2017 Dawn Opens Its Eyes, Checks Its Instruments ESA Remembers The Night Of The Comet Vesta - An Asteroid In 3D Dawn Gets Vesta Target Practice