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Nations OK European Space Agency’s mission to Mars in 2020

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 and a href=’https://www.apnews.com/57477f19a45b4751a27ab57971e4d4b9/Hard-crash-landing-may-have-wrecked-Europe’s-Mars-probe’crashed on the surface/a 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.

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