Boeing lands $1.1 billion Air Force satellite contract

SEATTLE — In a major boost to its sprawling satellite-making operation in El Segundo, Calif., Boeing Co. has won a $1.1 billion U.S. Air Force award that will preserve high-paying engineering jobs in Southern California and bolster smaller firms that supply parts for the massive satellites.

The deal was the fourth big-money satellite contract for Boeing in two years — a reversal of fortunes from the dog days of the late 1990s — and it keeps the production line humming at a time when California is facing a 12 percent unemployment rate.

Boeing has about 5,500 employees at its million-square-foot facility near Los Angeles International Airport. Whenever a major contract is signed, the company makes an announcement over the public address system.

“Our floor erupted in cheers,” said Mark Spiwak, Boeing’s director for the Wideband Global Satcom program. “There’s a tremendous amount of pride associated with this program.”

The Wideband Global Satcom satellites form the Pentagon’s highest-capacity communications system. The massive satellites are about the size of a school bus, take more than four years to make and provide the military with high-definition video, radio communications and data services.

Each 13,000-pound spacecraft is built on the same design as the satellites used by DirecTV and XM Radio.

The Air Force initially contracted with Boeing in 2001 to build three of the high-powered satellites with an option for more. The first three are now circling the globe. Boeing is building three more of the satellites in El Segundo.

The satellites are typically launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard an Atlas V rocket.

The contract award, announced by Boeing on Tuesday, is to build the seventh and part of the eighth satellite.