UPDATE 1-Europe to spend $13 bln on Mars rover, space plans

(Recasts after news conferences, adds quotes, details)

By Tim Hepher

THE HAGUE, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Europe juggled expanding ambitions in space with fears of recession on Wednesday by approving a research and development budget that caps costs for a mission to Mars.

The deal to spend just under 10 billion euros ($12.96 billion) in coming years for space projects including the unmanned ExoMars rover mission followed two days of political haggling at the 18-nation European Space Agency.

Germany clashed at the talks with other countries over ExoMars, led by Italy, and funding for the International Space Station, which is a bigger industrial priority for Berlin.

ExoMars would involve landing a rover on the planet's surface and drilling down 2 metres (6.6 feet) to take soil soundings. The cost has roughly doubled since an earlier plan.

ESA ministers capped their contribution to ExoMars at 1 billion euros, leaving another 200 million euros to be funded through co-operation with NASA of the United States or Russia.

The compromise allows an ExoMars launch to go ahead in 2016, without new German contributions for the time being, while Berlin secured pledges that Europe's 1.4 billion euro, 5-year space station budget could be reviewed if more money is needed.

"The ISS is our biggest technological project and tremendous efforts have been made. Now is the time to reap the benefits of our work," Germany's junior minister for economics and technology Peter Hintze told a news conference.

Ministers from ESA countries and Canada meet every three years to agree funding for the agency, which exists to pool resources in a domain dominated since the Cold War by the United States and Russia and now generating an Asian space race.

China has carried out its first space walk while India sent a probe to the moon and has ambitions for manned space flight.

The meeting coincided with the global economic crisis, a double-edged sword for the ESA since it tightens purse strings while making it more attractive to boost high-tech jobs.

"These are investments which can help the economy. This is the right time invest in the future," ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dodain told a news conference.

SPACE STATION DEAL

The ESA said member states had agreed to put up 9.9 billion euros for scientific research that includes Europe's share of the Hubble telescope as well as other projects like the space station, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last week.