GPS IIIF Award (and Mystery Bidder)

Update: There actually isn’t a mystery bidder here. Governmentese is hard to parse, but only Lockheed Martin submitted a bid.

The official award is out for Lockheed Martin’s GPS IIIF work, and it’s a big one. Up to $7.2 billion total for up to 22 satellites:

Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colorado, has been awarded a $1,362,089,314 contract for GPS IIIF Space Vehicles 11 and 12. This contract provides for the non-recurring engineering, space vehicle test bed and simulators, and production of GPS IIIF Space Vehicles 11 and 12 as well as options for the production of up to 22 GPS III Space Vehicles, Space Vehicle storage, and launch and on-orbit support. Work will be performed in Littleton, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2027. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition with one solicitation mailed and one proposal received.

That last sentence there is particularly intriguing. Northrop Grumman and Boeing both have previously denied that they were submitting a bid for GPS IIIF, leaving Lockheed Martin as the only known bidder. But apparently, there was another response.

My guess would be it was a company like SSL, or some other large GEO manufacturer who is hurting after the recent downturn in build contracts.