Science's largest

An Alcatel Space-led consortium has won a $369 million contract from the European Space Agency to construct the Herschel and Plank science satellites - the largest science contract yet awarded. Alenia will produce the spacecraft platforms, Astrium the payload module for Herschel, and Alcatel the payload module for Plank. The twin spacecraft will be launched together on an Ariane 5 in 2007.

Source: Flight International