Turkey's defense forces have purchased another Gokturk satellite from Telespazio of Rome and Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy.

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The satellites were made by an industrial consortium featuring Europe's two heavyweight space companies - Astrium and Thales Alenia Space (TAS).

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Alcatel-Alenia Space (incorporated, since 2006, in Thales Alenia Space), C2Consultants, IBM and UNESCO all joined together within a consortium for the project.

UNESCO: Communication and Information

Reinaldo Seznec, Presidente y CEO de Thales Alenia Space, y el Sr.

UNESCO: lanzamientoDG

Thales Alenia Space of France will build the satellites - 66 to form the operational constellation, the remainder to act as spares.

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Both the new modules were manufactured in Italy by Thales Alenia Space.

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"There was a competitive concept but it involved a lot of stages, a lot of machines, " recalls Jean-Jacques Juillet, the director of scientific programmes at Thales Alenia Space, the company that led the industrial development of Herschel.

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The manufacturer of the satellite, French company Thales Alenia Space, added to the embarrassment by prematurely issuing a press release stating the rocket had launched successfully, and the satellite was in the right place in orbit.

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