The 
Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $284.4 million fixed-price contract to procure long-lead-time parts for the fifth and sixth Space Based Infrared System geosynchronous orbit satellites, announced company officials. Under this contract, Lockheed Martin will purchase the remaining long-lead-time components for GEO-5 and GEO-6, states the company’s March 5 release. This contract award “reinforces the government’s confidence in our ability to produce these vital satellites efficiently going forward,” said Jeff Smith, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of overhead persistent infrared systems. The company will carry out this work prior to the final contract for full production of these two spacecraft, which will be part of the broader SBIRS missile warning constellation. That final contract will come at a later date. Work under the new contract is expected to be completed by June 2016, according to the description included in the Pentagon’s list of major contracts for Feb. 20. Last October, the Air Force let an $82 million contract to Lockheed Martin to initiate the non-recurring engineering activities for GEO-5 and GEO-6 and to procure the first set of long-lead-time parts.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
