§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost of the five Satellite Communications Systems is; what the total number of units to be purchased is; when they all will be in service; and if he will make a statement. [148102]
§ Dr. MoonieIt is assumed that the question relates to the proposed SKYNET 5 military satellite communications system. SKYNET 5 is envisaged as a service provision contract under PFI arrangements. The contractor will provide and own the satellites and associated ground infrastructure. The nature of the assets and the number of satellites that will be used is a matter for the selected contractor.
Bids for the SKYNET 5 service implementation contract were submitted by two competing consortia on 10 January 2001 and are currently being evaluated. It would be inappropriate to comment on the likely cost of the service provision while the competition is taking place. On current plans we expect the service to start in the middle of the decade.