Rockwell Wins Major Contract for Satellites
Rockwell International Corp. beat out two rivals to win a lucrative Air Force contract Monday to design and produce a new generation of Navstar Global Positioning System satellites.
The pact ultimately could be worth $1.3 billion to the Seal Beach-based industrial giant.
Rockwell could hire as many as 50 new workers by 1998 to handle the initial five-year, $382-million contract, the company said.
As many as 300 workers would be employed on the project, but most of them would be existing employees transferred in from other Rockwell programs, said Rockwell Space Systems spokesman Alan Buis.
The Air Force contract comes as Rockwell reportedly is in the midst of an effort to sell its government- and military-contracting operations. Company officials have refused to comment, but one Rockwell source said the deal would sweeten the marketability of the largely Southern California-based space and defense units, which last year posted revenue of $3.5 billion.
The new contract calls for Rockwell and its chief subcontractor, Computer Sciences Corp., to design and develop the updated satellite system and its operational software and to produce the first six satellites.
A global-positioning system uses radio signals bounced from satellites to provide navigation data to military and civilian users anywhere in the world. The data can pinpoint a target to within 50 feet of its actual location.
GPS is already at work in navigational devices available to motorists, hikers and golfers. The government recently announced plans to make more accurate GPS signals available for civilian use.
Work is to begin immediately at Rockwell’s satellite facility in Seal Beach and Computer Science Corp.’s El Segundo facility, Buis said.
If the Air Force exercises options for as many as 27 additional satellites and development of a new GPS channel for civilian use, the contract would stretch through 2012 and bring $1.3 billion in revenue to Rockwell and its various subcontractors.
Others seeking the contract, awarded in competitive bidding, were Pennsylvania-based Lockheed Martin Corp. and Hughes Aircraft Co.’s satellite unit in El Segundo.
Rockwell built the GPS prototype satellites and the first 28 operational satellites, while Lockheed-Martin received the contract in 1989 to build 21 replacement satellites.
Rockwell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Donald R. Beall called the award for an upgraded system a significant milestone for a company that was a pioneer in development of satellite navigation.
The new contract calls for development of satellites that will remain operational for 15 years, twice the life of the original GPS satellites, and that have excess capacity so users--initially the military--can add equipment.
GPS technology guided the “smart bombs” and missiles used during Operation Desert Storm. The system is used by the military for aircraft, ship and ground-vehicle navigation and includes a less accurate civilian channel used by commercial airlines, trucking fleets and law enforcement organizations.
The final option in the contract calls for development of a second, highly accurate civilian frequency.
Rockwell began working on global positioning in 1974, when it won government contracts to build 11 developmental satellites and thousands of receiver sets.
The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, but the system became fully operational just last year. The entire global-positioning system consists of 24 satellites, a ground-control system and an array of radio signal receivers. The satellites orbit Earth twice a day.
