The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reports this morning that Boeing and the Justice Department have reached a settlement involving federal investigations of impropriety by the company, including its launch business. (For those who don’t have WSJ.com subscription, check the free Reuters and MarketWatch articles.) Under the agreement, Boeing would pay $615 million to close the investigations without officially admitting any wrongdoing. Part of the deal involves claims that Boeing used proprietary Lockheed Martin documents to prepare its own bid for EELV launch services back in the 1990s, a claim that triggered a separate Lockheed lawsuit against Boeing (one that would be settled if the United Launch Alliance wins approval.) It’s not clear how much effect this will have on the ULA, federal approval of which is being handled separately by the FTC. It would, though, make it harder for Lockheed to pursue its lawsuit against Boeing should the ULA fall through, since Boeing did not have to admit any guilt in its federal settlement.
