Astronaut Chris Hadfield will be the first Canadian to take command of the International Space Station, for the second half of a six-month mission that will begin in 2012, announced the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), on Thursday.

Hadfield is only the second astronaut from another country than the United States or Russia to be selected to assume the command of the ISS, since astronauts began living on board, in 2000.

Before him was Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne of the European Space Agency, during his 2009 flight.

Gary Goodyear, the Canadian Minister of State for science and technology said in a press release: “The selection of a Canadian astronaut for a long-duration mission and as Commander of the International Space Station reflects the achievements of our space exploration program and the renowned quality of our Canadian Astronaut Corps.”

Hadfield said that this is an extraordinary opportunity for him as well as for his country's space agency, “it means a lot for both,” he told SPACE.com.

“For the CSA, this is really another benchmark measure of our steadily increasing capability; from a personal point of view, I've operated a lot of aerospace machines in my life – but to command a spaceship, that's just a tremendous thrill.”

He is scheduled to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in December 2012 for his third space trip and his second long-duration mission.

During the first four months of the mission, Hadfield will be a flight engineer on the station's Expedition 34.

In March 2013, three of the six members of the station will go back to Earth and they will be replaced with newcomers, while Hadfield will become the commander of Expedition.

“I'm looking forward to the things that a commander is asked to do, and I very much want to prepare all of us so that we're as capable a group of people as we can possibly be,” he said.

“It's a fascinating human challenge to be a leader.

“How do I bring people from various cultures and languages together?”

The International Space Station, which was originally programmed to end its orbital life in 2015, has now been extended until 2020.

It's construction began in 1998 and the $100 billion spacecraft is now the home of six astronauts, 3 from the Us and 3 from Russia.