Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN] were pacing the floor late Friday afternoon, waiting to hear which one would win a $6.2 billion U.S. Department of Defense satellite-communications contract (SN, Sept. 13), which was due to be announced after our deadline.

Each of these companies is leading a competing team that wants to develop the 20-year Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) for the U.S. Navy. MUOS is the next-generation communication system that will replace the aging and capacity-strapped UFO constellation with five new satellites, providing narrowband UHF communications on the fly to ground-based soldiers anytime, anywhere.

With the current paucity of commercial satellite contracts available, the military arena is becoming an increasingly important market for U.S. aerospace companies. This contract for narrowband services is believed to be the largest that will be awarded for the next two years.