Posted: Sat, Apr 17, 2004, 12:51 PM ET (1651 GMT)
The US Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman contracts on Friday to develop concepts for a space-based radar system. Each company won contracts worth $220 million to study how to develop a system of reconnaissance spacecraft that can provide the military with high-resolution all-weather radar imagery. The contracts run through April 2006, after which the Air Force is expected to select a single company to build the system, to be deployed around 2012.

Related Links:

•  Reuters article
•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  Air Force contract announcement