Britain will play a major role in building Nasa's new manned spacecraft, Orion, after contributing £16m to the European Space Agency in a one-off deal.

The next generation spacecraft is designed to venture into deep space on missions to the far side of the moon, near-Earth asteroids, and further afield to Mars.

In joining the project, engineers at UK centres will take on the development of the propulsion and communication systems that the capsule needs to operate in space.

Reminiscent of the US space agency's Apollo capsule, the Orion multipurpose crew vehicle (MPCV) can carry up to four astronauts and return to Earth with a splashdown in the ocean.

Britain's involvement in Orion was announced at a meeting of Esa's ministerial council in Naples on Wednesday. The move came as a surprise given that successive UK governments have steered clear of human spaceflight in favour of projects to build robotic satellites, communications and other space industries.

Speaking to the Guardian from Naples, the science minister, David Willetts, said Britain's involvement in Orion would bring money into the nation's space industry. "We have got particular skills in propulsion technology and telecommunications, and these are the areas where there will now be a British role in Orion."

Nasa has conducted scores of tests on the separate modules that make up the Orion spacecraft. The first unmanned orbital flight test is due in 2014, when the spacecraft will be launched 3,000 miles into space before re-entering into Earth's atmosphere.

Over the next five years, Britain will pay £240m a year to Esa, Willetts said, making it the third largest contributor to the agency. In return, the UK expects to make four times that amount, or £1bn a year, in contracts for work on Esa missions.

The extra funds will back research into space-based communications, and give UK businesses a leading role in the development of Earth observation systems, navigation satellites, nuclear propulsion technologies, and the advanced Metop 2G weather satellite.

With an investment of £12.4m, the UK also joins the European Life and Physical Sciences in Space Programme (Elips), which exploits the space environment to study human physiology and ageing, and advanced materials for jet engines.

Ian Crawford, a planetary scientist at Birkbeck College in London, welcomed the fresh support for space science and exploration. "Participating in Orion and joining the Elips programme are very positive developments," he said.

Nasa has discussed plans to land astronauts on a near-Earth asteroid, but some experts believe the agency is about to announce a mission to the far side of the moon. Rather than landing on our nearest celestial neighbour, the mission would place astronauts in orbit far from the surface.

"That would be an obvious precursor mission before sending astronauts to a near-Earth asteroid. It allows them to build up the capability of people operating around the moon," Crawford said.

Ahead of the Naples meeting, it was unclear to what extent the financial difficulties faced by many of Esa's member states would affect space projects. But in a press conference on Wednesday, the agency's director general, Jean Jacques Dordain, said the agency's science budget was "flat cash" for the next five years, meaning it will remain fixed for the period.

Germany remains the largest contributor to the space agency, with €2.6bn. France is the second largest, contributing €2.3bn. "Member states recognise that space is not an expense; it's an investment," Dordain said.