BERLIN - Nations have approved an additional 440 million euros ($469 million) to fund the European Space Agency's next mission to Mars.
As part of the ExoMars mission, the agency this year sent an orbiter and a test lander to the red planet. The Trace Gas Orbiter was successfully deployed but the Schiaparelli lander malfunctioned on the surface of Mars, raising fears about the next stage of the mission.
Despite the crash, officials meeting in Lucerne, Switzerland, on Friday approved the budget that ESA said it requires to send a rover to Mars in 2020.
In all, member states approved 10.3 billion euros ($10.95 billion) in funding for the agency, which will also allow it to continue participating in the International Space Station program until at least 2024.
