Europe is seeking to maintain flight opportunities for its astronauts by buying
Soyuz spacecraft from Russia.
The European Space Agency (Esa) has asked Moscow if it is possible to increase the production of the craft from four to five a year.
Esa could then buy its own vehicle, perhaps with the Canadians who are also looking for more seat opportunities.
The expected retirement of US shuttles in 2010/11 means fewer humans will be going into space in the coming years.
The venerable Soyuz craft will be the only way of getting to the International Space Station (ISS), certainly in the short term.
Simonetta Di Pippo, the director of human spaceflight at Esa, told BBC News she was hopeful a deal on Soyuz could be put in place for 2013.
"From '13 on, we would like to have at least one European astronaut per year flying and this can be done in various ways. One of the proposals we are putting on the table is to buy a full Soyuz," she said. - BBC
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