Washington ? Boeing Co. said on Monday the U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether the company used its largest competitor’s documents in bidding to build rockets to launch key spy satellites into space.

“There is an investigation going on and Boeing is cooperating fully with it,” said Dan Beck, spokesman for the No. 2 U.S. defense contractor behind Lockheed Martin Corp.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the Justice Department had launched a criminal and civil investigation into whether the Chicago company gathered sensitive Lockheed documents while bidding to make the rockets used to launch U.S. military and national security satellites.

Boeing and Lockheed are the only providers of the advanced rockets used to put U.S. military satellites into space under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.