L-3 Communications Gets NASA Deal

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) -- L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. won a multimillion-dollar contract from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, the space agency said late Thursday.

The Waco, Texas-based L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP will provide work on NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy project. The SOFIA project includes a high-altitude airborne observatory with an infrared telescope that is mounted on a modified Boeing 747SP jet.

The contract is worth up to $26 million over a five-year period if all options are exercised. The company will complete work on the first part of the contract in a 23-month period through Dec. 31, 2008.

There are three one-year options that could extend the pact from Jan. 1, 2009, through Dec. 31, 2011.

Shares of L-3 Communications dropped 48 cents to $86.34 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.