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CANNES, FRANCE (BNS): Thales Alenia Space Tuesday signed a € 85 million worth contract to provide ESA Galileo system Support Services, lasting from 2010 till 2016.

According to a news release by the Thales, the contract which was signed at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) headquarters of the European Space Agency (ESA) will cover the period 2010 till 2014, through which Galileo will be developed to become operational in early 2014.

"This contract allows Thales Alenia Space Italy to perform the overall System Design, the System Security Design, the overall System Integration, Verification and In Orbit Validation. The company is particularly proud to sign this important contract," said Luigi Pasquali, CEO for Thales Alenia Space Italy, as reported by the release.

In the Rome factory, Thales Alenia Space is already involved in the assembly, integration and testing of the 4 IOV (In Orbit Validation) satellites of the constellation.

Galileo is Europe's initiative for a state-of-the-art global satellite navigation system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control.