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WASHINGTON — With a federal budget crunch looming, Congress this month canceled Pentagon plans to buy and launch two commercial imagery satellites to complement its network of classified spy craft, military and space industry officials said.
House and Senate defense appropriations committees cut all funds for the satellite program in 2009 bills. They also erased the remaining 2008 funds.
In a related move, the Pentagon has pushed back a competition between Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. for a multibillion-dollar satellite communications system, according to an industry source.
