[Satellite TODAY 10-27-09] Thales Alenia Space selected Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to work jointly on the Iridium Next satellite constellation program, Ball Aerospace announced Oct. 26.
Ball Aerospace’s responsibilities may include assembly, integration and test for the Iridium satellites.
    While more specific details of the partnership have yet to be announced, Ball Aerospace said it would process as many as four spacecraft at a time at its Boulder, Co., satellite production facility and advise Thales Alenia Space on possible hosted secondary payload opportunities to serve the needs of a variety of defense and civil missions.
    Ball Aerospace is “the last link in the value chain to Iridium and will provide both the quality and dedication required to build this challenging [Iridium Next] constellation," Thales Executive Vice President Emmanuel Grave said in a statement.

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