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    Sep 6, 2011

    Boeing Co.'s satellite production facility in El Segundo won a $1 billion Air Force contract to build a military communications satellite, the Department of Defense said Thursday.

    The contract is for the seventh Wideband Global Satcom, or WGS, satellite, part of a series of spacecraft that are dramatically improving U.S. military communications, from troops in the field to fighter jets overhead.

    The DoD announced the contract award in a statement that included contracts to other companies. The statement was sparse on details.

    The Boeing contract also includes advance procurement for the eighth WGS satellite, as well as an option for production and launch of WGS No. 9.

    The Air Force contract pegged the value at $1,099,800,000.

    A Boeing official declined to comment on the contract and referred media questions to the Air Force.

    In August 2010, Boeing won a $182 million Air Force contract to begin so-called long-lead procurement and work on WGS No. 7.

    The Australian military is also participating in the WGS system.

    Boeing's first three WGS satellites are also orbiting the Earth.

    The others will be launched in coming years.

    This latest contract is large by satellite industry standards, but was not a surprise.

    Boeing had been in discussions with the Air Force over the contract for the past several weeks.

    Still, the contract award comes as good news for Boeing's El Segundo facility, which this month celebrated the 50th anniversary of its satellite facility.

    The El Segundo operation has been buffeted with layoffs over the past decade. Today, the business employs about 6,400 people, about half the number that worked there in the late 1990s.

    While not specifically commenting on Thursday's award, Craig Cooning, the Boeing executive in charge of the El Segundo operations, earlier this month said that employment at the satellite business was stable, with no planned layoffs, despite expected Pentagon belt tightening.

    By contrast, Northrop Grumman Corp. announced last week that it would cut 500 jobs at its Redondo Beach-based Aerospace Systems sector.

    Source: Contra Costa Times

    http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_18807912

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