Boeing is concerned that its $1 billion investment in the Delta IV satellite launcher could be at risk because of the investigation into misconduct by employees during the US Air Force's 1998 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) competition.
The investigation has jeopardised USAF efforts to ensure access to space by providing support for Boeing and Lockheed Martin during the steep downturn in commercial satellite launches.
Boeing has acknowledged that three employees misappropriated Lockheed Martin documents during the EELV competition, but a Lockheed Martin lawsuit accuses the company of covering up the extent of the proprietary cost and technical data contained in the thousands of documents.
Boeing says it told the US Air Force in 1999 that several of its employees had acted inappropriately during the competition. The USAF then launched the investigation.
The EELV competition resulted in Boeing being awarded 19 US Air Force launches and Lockheed Martin nine. Only two of Lockheed Martin's launches were from the US West Coast, and after it decided it did not make economic sense to build a West Coast launch site they were transferred to Boeing, taking its total to 21, worth $1.8 billion.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems chief executive Jim Albaugh says the company provided the US Air Force with what it wanted: a US engine, a heavy launcher, and a West Coast launch site. Lockheed Martin's Atlas V uses a Russian engine, and the company suspended development of a heavylift version and a West Coast launch site following the EELV competition.
Source: Flight International