While US$100,000 is not a great deal of money in the great scheme of things. However, it was enough to satisfy the government of its good intent when the joint Boeing/Lockheed Martin-owned launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) paid it as part of an agreement with the US Government to settle allegations that it had been involved in receiving “kickback” payments. The payments had allegedly been paid to ULA staff from Apriori Technologies Inc. in return for project management and compliance work allocations given to it in the July 2011 – July 2015 period.
While the settlement is not supposed to be an admission of guilt, the money does put a line under the issue as ULA hopes to promote a better relationship with its main client: the US government.
