Boeing has awarded Orbital Sciences Corp. a $425 million contract to develop a booster rocket as part of the U.S. ground-based missile defense program, Bloomberg News reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 27).

The U.S. Congress will soon be notified that Boeing awarded Orbital the four-year contract, according to sources familiar with the situation (see GSN, Oct. 5, 2001).  Orbital could then be awarded a $550 million contract for 50 booster rockets through 2010, Bloomberg News reported.

Experts said they were impressed Orbital was able to beat Lockheed Martin for the contract, which reduces the dependency on a single Boeing booster rocket design (see GSN, Dec. 14, 2001).

“They beat out Lockheed, which is no mean feat,” said Paul Nisbet, an analyst with JSA Research Inc.  “Lockheed’s very well-versed in the booster area with the Titan and Atlas vehicles.”

Boeing still plans to hire Lockheed to run and improve the existing booster rocket program, said the sources close to the situation (Cappacio/Robison, Bloomberg News, March 4).

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