Boeing Wins Contract Despite Air Force Ban

Boeing Co. won a $56.7-million Air Force contract for work related to satellite launches, requiring the Air Force to make an exception to a ban on Boeing imposed last month.

The work will be completed by September 2004, the Defense Department said. The contract is an extension of an operations and maintenance agreement for Boeing’s Delta II rockets that will launch Air Force satellites.

The Air Force banned Boeing’s rocket units from bidding for military work after finding the company violated federal law by obtaining secret documents from Lockheed Martin Corp. to win a launch contract in 1998. Separately, Chicago-based Boeing beat Lockheed in their two-year competition for a contract to develop a small-diameter bomb that may be worth as much as $2.5 billion in sales.

Boeing shares rose 41 cents to $37.39 on the New York Stock Exchange.