spacetoday.net: Delta 4 wins Air Force order despite ban

Posted: Thu, Oct 2, 2003, 11:34 AM ET (1534 GMT)
Delta 4 launch of DSCS 3B-6 (Boeing)

The US Air Force awarded a contract to Boeing on Tuesday for a Delta 4 launch despite an existing suspension of the company’s launch business. The Air Force awarded Boeing the contract for the Delta 4 launch of a National Reconnaissance Office satellite scheduled in 2005 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Boeing was suspended this summer from launch contracts by the Air Force after an investigation revealed that company employees acquired and used proprietary Lockheed Martin documents during the original EELV bidding process in the 1990s. Air Force undersecretary Peter Teets said Boeing got the award because of critical national security issues that required the launch to take place on schedule. Three other launch contracts for missions from Vandenberg were awarded to Lockheed Martin in July; the company plans to convert an existing Atlas pad there to support Atlas 5 launches, but that facility will not be ready in time for the launch awarded to Boeing. The overall suspension on Boeing’s launch units remains in force, although Pentagon officials have hinted that it could be removed later this year, based on the company’s progress in implementing contracting and ethics reforms.