NASA Delays Decision on Telescope Contract

A decision on whether Lockheed Martin Corp. or TRW Inc. will be the prime contractor for the $1-billion Next Generation Space Telescope has been postponed several months, possibly to scale down the project, NASA said.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has told the contractors that it is going to alter the specifications for the new telescope, which will replace the Hubble Space Telescope, scheduled to return to Earth aboard a space shuttle by 2010.