Mir orbiting Earth. Photo: NASA

The Russian government appeared to seal the fate of the Mir space station on Thursday, deciding to ditch the aging space outpost in February.

"The government has agreed that [Mir] be taken out of orbit and brought down into the Pacific Ocean in a pre-determined area off Australia between February 26 and 28," Russian space agency chief Yuri Koptev said after a meeting of the Russian cabinet in Moscow.

The space station's demise would come 15 years after its first module was launched into orbit by the then Soviet Union.

"Nothing can last for eternity -- even the Mir," Koptev said.

Faced with a lack of commercial backing, the Russian aerospace industry reluctantly recommended last month that the station be sent to a watery grave in the Pacific Ocean.

Mir Corp., the international consortium hoping to commercialise the outpost, had failed to come up with enough money to keep Mir alive, despite signing an agreement to fly businessman Dennis Tito to station early next year.

Mir Corp. officials could not be reached Thursday for comment, but the company issued a statement saying it was aware of the reports from Moscow.

"MirCorp is awaiting official notification on the future of Mir, and will provide more details when available," the statement said.

Tito is hoping for a ride to the International Space Station instead of Mir, but that could face fierce opposition from NASA. Tito may still make it to Mir, if a crew is needed to help prepare the station for its deorbit, but the Russian aerospace industry appears divided on whether this is necessary.

Yuri Semenov, who heads RKK Energia, the company responsible for Mir, recently told reporters the station could be deposed of safely without a manned presence. Only a malfunctioning computer or the loss of an unmanned cargo ship would require intervention by cosmonauts.

But Anatoliy Kiselev, director general of Khrunichev, a rival aerospace company, said it would be impossible to guarantee a safe reentry without a crew to place it on course.

"There are several ways of de-orbiting the Russian orbital complex and sinking it in the desired area of the Pacific Ocean. I favour the de-orbiting control from inside the station, with the crew supervising the descent and the initial phase of braking from inside the station," he said.

Kiselev said debris from the station would fall in a swathe 8,000-10,000 kilometres long and 200 kilometres wide and there was a danger pieces could crash on land.

An unmanned Progress cargo craft was docked with the station last month to raise its orbit in anticipation of February's deorbit. Another Progress will be needed to plunge the station into the atmosphere.