
Loft Federal and Microsoft [MSFT] will join Ball Aerospace [BLL] to work on its Space Development Agency (SDA) contract for the experimental testbed NExT for 10 satellites. SDA awarded Ball Aerospace the NExT contract in October 2022 to build 10 satellites and accompanying ground systems to serve as the experimental testbed of the SDA’s constellation. The contract is worth up to $176 million and the satellites are set to fly beginning in 2024. Ball Aerospace announced April 11 Loft Federal, the government subsidiary of Loft Orbital,…