Paris - The European Space Agency (ESA) on Tuesday announced it was extending successful unmanned missions to Mars and Venus as well as a satellite exploration of Earth's magnetic field.
The decision would extend the Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions until December 31, ESA said in a press release.
Mars Express, launched in 2003, "has produced a treasure of discoveries", ESA said, pointing to radar measurements that discovered massive underground deposits of water ice and a 3D camera that has produced stunning images of the planet's surface.
Venus Express, launched in 2005, has been mapping Venus' roiling, scorching, toxic atmosphere, in a project that could help explain the mechanisms of runaway global warming.
The Cluster mission, launched in 2000, comprises four satellites that are carrying out a coordinated mapping of the magnetosphere, the magnetic field that surrounds Earth and protects it from charged particles blasted out by the Sun.
Mars Express and Cluster had previously been extended twice, and Venus Express once. - AFP