The race for the Skynet 6 satellite contract has drawn a direct intervention from the top of Airbus, whose chief executive Guillaume Faury has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham to argue that handing the work to the US company Lockheed Martin could leave Britain sidelined in the European space industry for decades.

The contract and the lobbying

The £2.4bn Skynet 6 programme will carry the British armed forces' most sensitive communications up to 2042, replacing the Skynet 5 system that Airbus currently operates. A decision had been expected in the summer but has been delayed in part by the arrival of Burnham in office, intensifying a last-minute lobbying effort around the award.

Several sources said no final decision had been made, though some believed the Ministry of Defence preferred Lockheed Martin's bid. The final call rests with Burnham and the chancellor, John Healey.

• •Lockheed Martin's bid would include a new factory in Durham.
• •Politicians in north-east England have lobbied for the US company's proposal.
• •Airbus operates the Skynet 5 system it would replace.

Airbus's warning

In the letter, Faury argued that whoever is picked to build Skynet will help shape the UK's standing in military satellites across Europe for a very long time. Senior industry figures have previously claimed that Airbus's UK satellite operations would not be viable without the contract, which could mean closing the sites at Stevenage and Portsmouth that employ 3,000 people, including 600 working on Skynet.

Airbus, Thales and Leonardo are working on a merger of their space subsidiaries, known as Project Bromo, to build a single European champion capable of rivaling leading US companies. Faury warned that if Airbus's British operation were no longer viable, the UK could miss out on the chance to be the European hub for military satellite communications after the merger.

Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, declined to comment. Faury is described as one of Europe's most powerful executives.

The case for Lockheed Martin

People close to Lockheed Martin strongly denied that the US government would have control over the satellites, saying its UK subsidiary would have full control over any built in Britain. A spokesperson for the company said that "Lockheed Martin UK, a British company, will establish facilities to develop an ecosystem alongside our regional partners" in north-east England, to provide the UK with a sovereign space capability.

The spokesperson added that the project would have "a UK design authority and a UK chief engineer" and would bring jobs, supply chain opportunities and export potential. The company said it was unable to comment on the ongoing procurement process.

Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, said the bid would mean a "state-of-the-art new manufacturing facility" in the region.

Kim McGuinness, mayor for north-east England, said the investment would bring £100m of investment and create 500 high-skilled jobs, with supply chain impact on top. She called satellite manufacturing in the north-east a huge opportunity, citing the close ties forged between the region's universities and industry.

Wider concerns

The union Unite has warned against "handing the British space industry over to the Americans", amid questions over the UK's reliance on the US government. The lobbying has unfolded after Ukraine complained that its access to Elon Musk's Starlink network was restricted, apparently at the behest of the US government.

A government document for a related system also said satellites must deal with the "proliferation of counterspace capabilities to disrupt, deny, degrade or destroy space-based enablers", citing radio jamming, hacking and physical attacks.

The first Skynet satellite was launched in 1969, predating the hostile AI of the same name in the 1984 film The Terminator. The final decision on Skynet 6 now rests with Burnham and Healey; no final decision has been made.