Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal probe into whether a senior NASA official improperly told a high-ranking Boeing Co. executive about the status of a lunar-lander contract, spurring the company to revise its bid, according to people familiar with the investigation. Prosecutors, they said, are looking into contacts between Doug Loverro, before he resigned as head of NASA’s human-exploration programs in May, and Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Boeing’s space and launch division. The investigation is in the early stages, according to the people familiar with it, and it isn’t known whether the probe will result in a criminal case. Several mid-level Boeing officials, including an attorney, were pushed out of the company as a result of the controversy, people familiar with the personnel changes said. The company has taken steps to improve compliance training following the episode, said a person briefed on Boeing’s internal response.

Source: Wall Street Journal August 14, 2020 19:27 UTC