Europe's 10bn euro space vision

Member states of the European space agency (Esa) have agreed a 10bn-euro budget at their meeting in The Hague.

In 2008, Europe attached its Columbus lab to the space station

The figure, which covers the next three to five years, represents a substantial increase in funding.

Ministers said the investment in space would help European industry pull through the current economic downturn.

The new money will help build new Earth observation satellites, maintain Esa's participation in the space station, and fund probes to the planets.

"The decisions of this ministerial conference are very important just in the middle of an economic crisis," said Peter Hintze, the minister who led the German delegation.

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