Pentagon Awards Missile Defense Radar Contract to Lockheed Martin

After a two-year bidding process, Lockheed Martin's Missile and Space Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif., has won a $1.8 billion contract from the Pentagon to build a satellite system that warns against ballistic missile attack. Lockheed will construct five geosynchronous satellites and the sensory equipment for two additional orbiting satellites. The system's heat-sensing infrared device can detect the hot plume of a rocket launch. The Air Force will use the space-based system's network of satellites and ground stations to track intercontinental ballistic missiles as well as short-range theater ballistic missiles. The satellites are slated for launch in the year 2006.