The beleaguered aerospace giant officially launched its new 7E7 Dreamliner passenger jet with a massive 50-plane order from All Nippon Airways - Boeing's biggest initial order ever for a new model.

The deal would be worth $6 billion at the list price of $120 million a plane, but major airline customers typically negotiate steep discounts. Neither Boeing nor ANA released a price for the order.

Good news has been scarce for Boeing's Seattle-based commercial airplanes division, which has endured a drought of new airplane orders and had to shelve two earlier commercial jet programs for lack of customer interest. Furthermore, European archrival Airbus pulled ahead of Boeing in jetliner deliveries last year for the first time.

"Boeing had really kind of developed an image of 'all hat and no cattle', to use a Texas term, so this finally is saying, 'Yeah, we're here to make airplanes,"' said aviation consultant Scott Hamilton.

The Chicago-based aerospace giant also has been shaken by embarrassing scandals in its defense business, which cast a cloud over the company and prompted the resignation of former chief executive Phil Condit.

"This was exactly what they needed - and then a little more," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group.

Aboulafia said the ANA deal will not only help jump-start Boeing's commercial jet business, but may reverse a perception that Boeing was coming to depend on defense contracts rather than aggressively using its own resources to create new technology.

"It sends the message (that) you're not just getting fat off government contracts; you're investing your own money in the future, too," Aboulafia said.

Boeing also is being investigated by the government over a deal to supply 100 airborne tankers, based on the 767 passenger jet, to the U.S. Air Force. The probe has to do with whether Boeing improperly received pricing information about Airbus to win the contract.

In a separate case, Lockheed Martin has filed a lawsuit that accuses Boeing of using proprietary information to win a $1.88 billion Air Force rocket launch contract.

Mike Bair, Boeing's senior vice president for the 7E7 program, called the All Nippon deal a "really, really important thing for the Boeing company."

He said Boeing expects to announce additional 7E7 orders soon and that Chinese carriers are especially interested in the plane. But he also noted that the company has made firm offers to more than a dozen carriers, including "a couple" U.S. carriers.

The All Nippon order broke Boeing's record for launch orders, set in 1960 when Eastern Airlines and United Airlines each ordered 40 727s.

The 7E7 - the "E" stands for efficiency - is the first new airplane Boeing has introduced in more than a decade, since it launched the 777 in October 1990.

In recent years, Boeing has had to shelve plans to build a super-sized 747X and a super-fast Sonic Cruiser, in both cases failing to drum up enough customer interest.

With the 7E7, analyst Paul Nisbet of JSA Research said, Boeing realized it needed "to appeal to those who are looking for economy rather than luxury."

Boeing says the Dreamliner will use 15 percent to 20 percent less fuel per passenger. It will have bigger windows and slightly wider aisles and seats than other planes. Boeing will assemble the plane in Everett, about 25 miles north of Seattle, where the 747, 767 and 777 are now made.

Production is to begin in 2006, and the airplane is expected to be in service in 2008.

Mitsubishi, Kawasaki and Fuji Heavy Industries, Japan's three leading industrial conglomerates, will build about 35 percent of the 7E7, including the wings - the first time outside companies have been given the lead in wing production for a Boeing commercial jet.

Boeing is relying heavily on outside companies to supply parts for the 7E7, and its push to keep costs low is expected to ripple through the industry.

"It's going to be a whole new way of building a plane, and it's going to press everybody beneath them," Aboulafia said.

The 7E7 is designed to compete with the Airbus A330-200, as well as to replace Boeing's 757 and 767 models, which date from the 1970s.

While Airbus has touted its new 550-passenger A380 as allowing airlines to pack more customers onto each flight between major hubs, Boeing is betting carriers will prefer smaller, more efficient jets to get passengers to their destinations more directly.

ANA has ordered both the short-haul version of the 7E7, which will have about 300 seats, and a longer-range model, which will seat 230 people in two classes. Bair said it wasn't yet clear which model would take flight first, or how many of each ANA would eventually receive.

ANA also will chose later between General Electric or Rolls-Royce engines for its planes.

The order will eventually enable ANA to replace its fleet of 61 medium-sized planes - 52 767-300s, two 767-200s, and seven Airbus A321s.

Shares of Boeing gained 79 cents to $43.24 in trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.