Space News by Sandra Erwin — April 19, 2019
The WGS-11 satellite is being funded with money that Congress inserted into the fiscal year 2018 budget for satellites the Air Force never intended to buy. Boeing received a $605 million contract for the production of the Air Force’s 11th Wideband Global Satellite Communication satellite that Congress funded more than a year ago. The WGS constellation provides broadband communications to the U.S. military and allies.
The deal announced on Friday is a modification to an existing WGS Block II follow-on agreement that brings the total value of Boeing’s WGS contracts to nearly $2.5 billion. Boeing has been the prime contractor since 2001. The first satellite was launched in 2007.
The contract for WGS-11 is a fixed-price agreement, and the work is expected to be completed by November 2023. The Air Force now is only obligating $300 million of the $605 million award.
The WGS-11 satellite is being funded with money that Congress inserted into the fiscal year 2018 budget for satellites the Air Force never intended to buy in the first place. The WGS-10 that was launched March 15 was meant to be the last of the constellation. The Air Force has been studying alternatives to replace WGS in the coming decade, such as buying commercial broadband services from the private sector. But Congress in March 2018 unexpectedly added $600 million for the procurement of WGS-11 and WGS-12.
More:
https://spacenews.com/boeing-awarded-605-million-air-force-contract-for-wgs-11-communications-satellite/
