The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project between Nasa, Esa and the Italian Space Agency (Asi).

BBC: Nasa extends Saturn probe mission

So to rescue the mission, ESA and the Italian Space Agency explored new options, one of which was acceptable to all parties.

BBC: Venus mission is on

"My dream is that a new agency like the International Telecommunications Union will be proposed at UN level to coordinate all this activity, " said Dr Claudio Portelli from the Italian space agency (Asi).

BBC: 'Urgent need' to remove space debris