Air Force, Lockheed Negotiating Satellite Failure Cost

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Lockheed Martin Corp. may pay for a failure on its first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite that led to the $1.7 billion spacecraft not reaching its orbit, U.S. Air Force officials said today.

A blocked fuel line caused the failure and the Air Force is in negotiations with Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed on the penalty, Air Force officials, including Erin Conaton, the undersecretary of the service, said.