Skynet 6a
By Deborah Haynes,
Published by Sky News, 5 November 2026
Four industry sources said the PM is reviewing a decision – thought to have been taken by the Ministry of Defence – to award the £2.4bn Skynet contract to a US defence firm.
Andy Burnham must settle a bitter battle on Earth between rival American and European companies over the future in space of a critical UK military satellite system.
Four industry sources said the prime minister is reviewing a decision – thought to have been taken by the Ministry of Defence – to award the £2.4bn Skynet contract to the US defence firm, Lockheed Martin, instead of sticking with its European rival, Airbus.
A Ministry of Defence source, however, insisted that no decision has yet been made.
The British arm of Airbus has long delivered the capability, which handles the UK’s most sensitive data and is designed to be “unhackable”.
Sources that support Airbus warned that giving the contract to a US company – even the UK branch of Lockheed Martin – would be a “betrayal” of the British space and defence industry.
Though sources that back Lockheed point out that Airbus is a European, not a UK, firm.
The review by Mr Burnham is thought to have come after the head of Airbus wrote to the prime minister in recent weeks to make the case for why the contract to provide two new military-grade satellites should stay with his firm.
See: Original Article
