Boeing On Path to Reinstatement After Rocket Ban
The Los Angeles Times reports that the U.S. Air Force will reinstate Boeing as a “good corporate citizen” after an 18-month suspension, so it can once again bid for rocket orders that could be worth as much as $4B. In July 2003, the USAF imposed this suspension and took away about $1B of rocket orders after federal investigators found that two Boeing employees had stolen proprietary rocket documents from rival Lockheed Martin Corp. Sources said the suspension would be lifted after a 25-page administrative agreement was reached, including a financial settlement of up to $170M to cover the cost that the Air Force says it incurred as a result of the suspensions. Boeing could also wind up paying a portion of the $200M that the Air Force is paying Lockheed to build a West Coast launch pad for the rockets.
In other space-related news at Boeing, Boeing recently folded its commercial BSS division into a new Satellite Development Center under Boeing’s Space and Intelligence Systems, in order to focus on government-satellite work.
