Northrop Grumman has declined to bid on the U.S. Air Force GPS III Follow On contract, reports SpaceNews, making it the second company after Boeing not to bid.
The decision means Lockheed Martin is all but assured the contract. Lockheed Martin announced on April 17 that it had submitted its proposal.
All three companies received study contracts in 2016 valued at up to $6 million each to demonstrate their ability to build future GPS satellites, in preparation for the planned competition.