波音公司(Boeing Co.)

美国的主要企业，世界最大的航空公司，以及最先进的商用喷射客机的制造商。1916年由波音（William E. Boeing, 1881～1956）创建，当时名为航空产品公司（Aero Products Company）。1920年代末，该公司成为联合飞机和运输公司（United Aircraft and Transport Corp.）的一员，但到1934年，遵照联邦反托拉斯法，联合飞机和运输公司被拆开，它又成为一个独立的实体。1930年代波音公司是发展单翼飞机的先锋；它的B-17轰炸机「飞行堡垒」（1935年首航）和B-52轰炸机「超级空中堡垒」（1942年首航）在第二次世界大战中都扮演了突出的角色。战後波音公司研制B-52喷射轰炸机，长久以来都是美国战略武力的支柱。它生产美国第一架喷射客机波音707（1958年服役），接着又开发出一系列极成功的商用喷射客机。到了21世纪初已发展出七个系列：737和757窄体客机；747、767和777广体客机；717（以前为麦道公司的MD-95）；以及MD-11型。1960年代波音公司为美国的「阿波罗计画」建造了绕月轨道器（Lunar Orbiters）、月球漫游车（Lunar Roving Vehicles）以及「土星V号」（参阅Saturn）的第一级运载火箭系列。1993年开始成为美国国家航空暨太空总署（NASA）国际太空站计画的主要签约制造商。1996年它买下洛克威尔国际公司（Rockwell International Corp.）的航空航太和国防飞机制造部门，一年後又购并麦道公司。2000年接获休斯电子公司（Hughes Electronics）的卫星订单生意。亦请参阅Lockheed Martin Corporation。

English version：

Boeing Co.

Major U.S. firm that is the world's largest aerospace company and foremost maker of commercial jet transports. It was founded by William E. Boeing (1881-1956) in 1916 (as Aero Products Company). In the late 1920s it became part of United Aircraft and Transport Corp., but it reemerged as an independent entity in 1934 when that company was broken up to comply with antitrust legislation. Boeing pioneered the development of single-wing planes in the 1930s; its B-17 Flying Fortress (first flown 1935) and B-29 Superfortress (1942) played prominent roles in World War II. After the war the company developed the B-52 jet bomber, long a mainstay of U.S. strategic forces. It produced the first U.S. jetliner, the Boeing 707 (in service 1958), and went on to develop a highly successful series of commercial jet transports. By the start of the 21st century these formed seven families—the narrow-body 737 and 757; wide-body 747, 767, and 777; 717 (formerly McDonnell Douglas MD-95); and MD-11. In the 1960s Boeing built the Lunar Orbiters, Lunar Roving Vehicles, and the first stage of the Saturn V rockets (see Saturn) for the U.S. Apollo program. Beginning in 1993, it served as NASA's prime contractor for the International Space Station. In 1996 it purchased the aerospace and defense units of Rockwell International Corp., and a year later it bought McDonnell Douglas Corp. It acquired the satellite business of Hughes Electronics in 2000. See also Lockheed Martin Corp.