MOSCOW The first year-long mission to the International Space Station may begin in March 2015, following an agreement between ISS partners who have previously sent crews for six months, the Russian space agency director said on Tuesday.

Alexei Krasnov, in charge of manned flights at Roscosmos, said the decision was made by participants at the International Astronautical Congress in Naples, Italy, this week.

The two-person expedition with crew members from Roscosmos and NASA will be a first test, the result of which will determine whether all flights are extended to a year, he said.

Space news from NBCNews.com

The strange case of the Cincinnati Lights intrigued UFO fans, but it looks as if the person who took the original video has come up with the likeliest explanation: They were skydivers.

"The fundamental decision has been made, only the formalities remain to be negotiated. So far, we are talking about a single mission," Krasnov told RIA news agency.

"If it proves effective, we will be able to discuss with partner countries a permanent transition from half-year flights to year-long flights."

Veteran Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide are currently in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

They are to be joined by another trio Kevin Ford, Oleg Novitsky and Yevgeny Tarelkin due to blast off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at the end of the month, their flight delayed by a week due to a technical equipment glitch.

Russia's space program has suffered a series of humiliating setbacks in recent months that industry veterans blame on a decade of crimped budgets and a brain drain.

Read more from the original source:

Russia OKs year-long space station mission