Airbus received a preliminary contract for Skynet-6A in 2017, but didn't receive full funding for the program until 2020.

Britain’s military on July 19 agreed to fully fund a gap-filler Skynet satellite it sole-sourced from Airbus Defence and Space three years ago, signing a 500-million-pound ($628.5 million) contract that covers the satellite’s manufacture and launch, as well as ground segment upgrades.

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Caleb Henry is a former SpaceNews staff writer.