spacetoday.net: Boeing wins contract for space surveillance satellite

Posted: Wed, Mar 31, 2004, 10:13 AM ET (1513 GMT)
Boeing will build a satellite designed to detect and track objects in orbit under terms of a nearly $200-million contract awarded Tuesday. The Space-Based Space Surveillance System (SBSS) will use a satellite to track spacecraft and other objects, such as orbital debris, in Earth orbit, and relay that information to the Defense Department. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in mid to late 2007. The $189 million contract for the SBSS spacecraft was awarded to Boeing by Northrop Grumman as a subcontract to an existing contract Northrop has with the Air Force Space and Missiles Systems Center. The contract covers the satellite, launch services, and ground infrastructure; the satellite alone is valued at $46 million. The Air Force is expected to later hold a competition to build a follow-on constellation of similar satellites.