I do not remember this being posted. Sorry, no link. Anyone know when Loral will see income from this contract? Will Boeing take any business away from Loral now that they are added to the team?
Boeing Joins Lockheed Martin Team In U.S. Navy Satellite Competition
By JEREMY SINGER
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 11:20 am ET, 15 January 2003
WASHINGTON - Boeing Satellite Systems has joined Lockheed Martin's team in the competition for a multibillion-dollar contract to build the U.S. Navy's next generation of mobile communications satellites.
Boeing previously was among the four companies competing for the prime contract to build the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), a large constellation of geostationary satellites intended to provide communications for ships at sea as well as other deployed forces.
But Boeing of El Segundo, Calif., and another hopeful, Spectrum Astro Inc., Gilbert, Ariz., saw their chances of winning that prime contract plummet when they failed to win $40 million study contracts in September to refine their designs for the MUOS.
Those contracts went to Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Raytheon Satellite Communications Systems of St. Petersburg, Fla., which is teamed with satellite-builder Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif. The MUOS prime contract is scheduled for award in February 2004.
Len Kwiatkowski, vice president of Lockheed Martin Space & Strategic Missiles, said in a press release that the company is excited to combine its systems engineering, military satellite communications, and commercial satellite expertise with that of Boeing.
The MUOS system, which is expected to cost about $6.2 billion and consist of five or six satellites, is slated to begin launching in 2008. |
