Air Force Waives Ban, Awards Boeing Launch

The Air Force said it granted Boeing Co. an exception to U.S. government sanctions to award it a contract for one Delta IV rocket to launch a spy satellite into space in 2005.

But Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets said he had not removed the Chicago-based company from its suspension from rocket launches, and urged the company to continue taking measures to prevent further problems.

The Air Force on July 24 suspended three Boeing units from obtaining government satellite launch contracts after finding it broke federal law by obtaining more than 25,000 documents from rival Lockheed Martin Corp. during bidding for the initial EELV contract, valued at nearly $2 billion.

The move had been widely expected, since Lockheed has no capacity to launch rockets from the West Coast.