The contract, which is the largest in the England-based MT Aerospace subsidiary’s company history, will see MT Satellite Products deliver titanium diaphragm tanks for the next-generation constellation of satellites.

   “We already have a long history of delivering propellant tanks for the commercial telecoms market. By entering the commercial constellation market, we will now be serving two different and important sectors with our commercial products. This will enable us to offer even more competitive products to our customers in the long-term,” MT Aerospace Satellite Products Managing Director Michael Dandy said in a statement.

   Acting as prime contractor for Iridium Next, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for managing engineering development, systems integration and manufacture of the space segment comprising 66 operational Iridium satellites, six in-orbit spare satellites and nine ground spare satellites, which are to begin launching in 2015.