The Canadian government announced Wednesday its intention to renew its commitment to the International Space Station, becoming the last of the program's partners to formally support the orbiting lab's life extension beyond 2015.

Canada built the space station's robot arm, seen here in a night pass over northern Europe. Credit: NASA
 
Christian Paradis, Canada's minister of industry, made the announcement in Quebec City ahead of a heads of agency meeting between the space station's five international partners, according to a Canadian Space Agency statement.

NASA, Russia, the Japanese space agency and the European Space Agency previously signed off on the continuation of space station operations to 2020.

Paradis was joined in the announcement by Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency.

"We are helping to maintain Canada's leadership in space technology and its every day critical applications," Paradis said. "Jobs and growth are a top priority for our government. We also recognize that maintaining Canada's place in technology leadership is part of the solution for economic growth and prosperity."

The Canadian Space Agency statement provided no details on the new government commitment or how long it would extend.

Canada is responsible for maintaining the station's robotics systems, including the lab's 58-foot robot arm, its mobile base, and the outpost's outdoor robotic handyman named Dextre. Canada must also pay a small share of the station's common systems operating costs.

In return, Canada gets the right to use 2.3 percent of the station's laboratory capacity outside the Russian segment.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield is due to blast off to the space station in December on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Hadfield's five-month expedition will culminate in a stint as commander of the complex.

No more Canadian astronauts are scheduled to live aboard the space station for the rest of the decade, unless the Canadian Space Agency negotiates another slot on the crew manifest.

Wednesday's space station announcement came as Canada's government released budget estimates for its 2012-2013 fiscal year. The Canadian Space Agency budget would drop from 424.6 million Canadian dollars this year to 363.2 million Canadian dollars, or about $367 million, next year.

The net decline in the space agency's funding hits its space exploration budget hardest, with a reduction of 52.4 million Canadian dollars.