The U.S. Air Force is set to lift an order that suspended Boeing Co. from getting satellite launch contracts since mid-2003, defense officials said Thursday.
The announcement could come as early as Friday after the close of trading in financial markets, said the officials, who declined to be named.
At stake is a chance to compete for the next multibillion-dollar round of government launches contracts, dubbed "Buy 3" and expected to consist of 15 to 20 launch vehicles.
Three Boeing units were suspended in July 2003 after the Air Force said the company committed "serious and substantial violations of federal law" involving illegal acquisition of rival Lockheed Martin Corp. documents.
Chicago-based Boeing, the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier, obtained more than 25,000 pages of Lockheed's trade secrets that helped it win a 1998 launch competition for a rocket program called the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, the Air Force has said.
As part of its punishment, Boeing also was stripped of $1 billion in government rocket business and seven of its launches were shifted to Lockheed, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier.
Acting Air Force Secretary Earlier in the day, Peter Teets said the timing of the move would be decided in conjunction with Steven Shaw, the Air Force attorney responsible for such suspensions. Shaw did not return a phone call seeking comment.
A Boeing spokesman, Dan Beck, said the company had not been told the suspension could be lifted as early as Friday.
"We feel confident that we've done everything that's been expected of us to meet the conditions for lifting the suspension," he said. "We're anxious to get back into the business of meeting the launch needs of the Air Force."
The suspension's end would help restore Boeing's tarnished image at the Pentagon amid a continuing federal criminal investigation into the illegal recruiting of Darleen Druyun, a top Air Force weapons buyer, while she was still overseeing billions in Boeing contracts.
Druyun is serving nine months in federal prison for violating conflict-of-interest laws. Boeing's former chief financial officer, Michael Sears, was sentenced to a four-month prison term two weeks ago for his role in hiring her.
Seeking to have its launch eligibility restored, Boeing had launched a corporate-wide program to emphasize ethical business practices.
The Air Force has been monitoring Boeing's "corrective actions" to make sure they are adequate, an Air Force spokeswoman said last month.
