(CNN) The European Space Agency has received a 14.4 billion-euro ($15.9 billion) funding boost from its 22 member states as it seeks to launch new missions and safeguard its role in space exploration and research.

The agency, which concluded a two-day ministerial meeting in Seville, Spain, on Thursday, agreed a budget of 12.5 billion euros for the next three years or 14.4 billion euros over five years.

The agency's budget is still much smaller than NASA's, which was estimated to be $19.4 billion for 2019

ESA's director-general, Jan Woerner, said in a live-streamed news conference that the amount countries had pledged was more than the agency had initially proposed.

In particular, more money than expected was committed to expand Europe's Copernicus Program , a group of satellites that monitor the status of the planet.

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