The space agency of United States, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are likely to team up for Mars exploration.

According to reports, the financial woes are forcing the NASA and the ESA to work together on Mars. NASA and ESA may join forces for joint Mars exploration venture by 2016.

The officials of NASA have recently been giving signals about the partnership. Ed Weiler, the space sciences chief of NASA, in May, stated that the partnership was the best avenue to pursue shared science goals "if we can lose a little bit of our ego and nationalism."    
 
Presently, the NASA is going through serious budget problems. The agency has been delaying many of its projects. It has postponed the launch of its powerful Mars Science Laboratory to 2011. It is cutting down its technology spending to pay for the $2.3 billion next-generation, nuclear-powered rover.

On the other side, the ESA is also having money troubles. The agency is lacking money to spend on ExoMars, a new drill-toting rover scheduled to launch in 2016.

Thus, in this kind of situation, the two space agencies are considering joint exploration venture for Mars. The two space agencies may divulge the details of their partnership by the end of this month.