US defence and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin tipped more than $300 million into its bid for Defence’s military-grade satellite communications system before it was jettisoned, new documents show.
Defence abandoned Phase One of the project known as JP9102 in November last year, replacing plans for a geo-stationary satellite with an alternative approach that relies on low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
The department initially put its sunk costs at $90 million, before revising up the figure to $102 million to include “Pre-Gate 1 costs”, of which $5.5 million was paid to Lockheed Martin for “Offer Definition and Improvement Activity”.
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