Posted: Tue, Apr 7, 2009, 5:45 AM ET (0945 GMT)
The Defense Department announced Monday it plans to cancel a next-generation communications satellite program and instead purchase more of a different type of communications satellite. The Transformation Satellite (TSAT) program was designed to dramatically increase the amount of bandwidth available for military users, and in early plans would have included laser intersatellite links. However, even after scaling down the program's technological risks, the Pentagon concluded that it was more cost-effective to cancel TSAT and instead buy two additional Advanced EHF satellites currently under development. The Pentagon spent about $1.5 billion on TSAT to date, and had planned to award a contract for the system's space segment to either Boeing or Lockheed Martin this year.

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