Posted: Mon, Jun 23, 2003, 8:27 PM ET (0027 GMT)
Boeing is considering laying off additional employees of its satellite manufacturing unit as it copes with a downturn in the commercial market, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Boeing officials told the Journal that they may be forced to cut several hundred more jobs at Boeing Satellite Systems if the company fails to win any new satellite orders by the end of the year. Boeing is already in the process of laying off over 4,000 employees at the unit, bringing its total employment down to 5,000, or about half of the number of workers as two years ago. Boeing is also in "active discussions" with the Defense Department about additional financial support for its Delta 4 launch vehicle, which is now totally dependent on military launches given the weakness of the commercial launch market. Boeing is currently entangled in a government investigation and a lawsuit from Lockheed Martin, who alleges that Boeing employees used confidential Lockheed documents to prepare its bid for the first EELV launch contracts in the mid-1990s; the Delta 4 won the bulk of the contracts awarded.

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