[Satellite TODAY 02-28-13] Aerospace manufacturers Thales Alenia Space and ISS Reshetnev have signed an agreement to create a joint venture between the two companies that will be based in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
   ISS will hold a majority stake in the new company, which will be incorporated under Russian law. The entity will initially focus on the production of equipment meeting the international standards for use on Russian telecommunications satellites. It will then work on the development of new products for satellites to address the requirements of both Russian and international markets in the future.
   The partnership marks the first phase of the bilateral collaboration targeted by a Memorandum of Understanding that Thales Alenia Space and ISS Reshetnev signed during the Moscow French-Russian intergovernmental conference in November 2011.
   Thales Alenia Space President and CEO Jean Loïc Galle called the joint venture a major milestone that cements both companies’ bonds in future market strategies. "We are very proud of continuing to contribute to the development of the Russian space industry," Loïc Galle said in a statement. "The partnership with ISS is absolutely a strategic one for Thales Alenia Space. The joint venture we have created today will enable us to assemble, integrate and test telecom satellite equipment that meets the most exacting standards, thus driving a significant increase in our business volume. I am firmly convinced that, through this joint venture, Thales Alenia Space and ISS-Reshetnev will be able to meet our upcoming challenges even more successfully than before."