But until House and Senate appropriators weigh in later this summer, neither the companies nor the NGA will have a clear idea of what the future holds for EnhancedView. The funding outlook could become murkier if lawmakers are unable to approve a budget by Sept. 30, leaving NGA and other federal agencies to spend money on a monthly basis at prior-year levels until an annual appropriation is approved. But that could pose a problem for both companies, given that the president's current budget blueprint proposes to spend less in 2013 than in 2012.

“That might make it more difficult, because [NGA's] not sure that they're going to have that this year,” O'Connell says.