Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co., the second-biggest U.S. defense contractor, is protesting larger rival Lockheed Martin Corp.'s win of a $1.09 billion contract to build weather satellites for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Boeing filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office stating the company offered a ``superior proposal'' based on the evaluation criteria, spokeswoman Diana Ball said in an e- mailed statement today.

Lockheed Martin beat separate bids by Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corp. on Dec. 2 to build two spacecraft, with options for two additional satellites. First launch of the new satellites, which are used for weather forecasting and environmental, space and solar science, is scheduled for 2015, NASA said at the time of the award.

The new spacecraft will supply about 50 times more weather and climate data than the current fleet, according to NASA. Chicago-based Boeing is the builder of the current series of satellites used by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Lockheed is based in Bethesda, Maryland.

The GAO is the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress.

To contact the reporter on this story: James Gunsalus in Tokyo at jgunsalus@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 15, 2008 22:49 EST