Jeff has been involved in aerospace journalism since the mid 1990s. Prior to joining Aviation Week, Jeff served as managing editor of Launchspace magazine and the International Space Industry Report. He has been the editor and chief of Aviation Week's Aerospace Daily & Defense Report since 2007 and has been a regular contributor to Aviation Week magazine. He received his B.A. from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin offered Senate lawmakers a preview of an upcoming congressionally mandated report on projected center work force levels during testimony on Capitol Hill Feb. 27.
COTS SLIP: NASA says that SpaceX is projecting a slip of six to nine months in the first flight of its Falcon 9 rocket under the agency’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The mission, to demonstrate cargo transfer to the space station, is now planned for March 2010. The delay is due to technical issues with the new Merlin 1C engine that were “recently resolved,” as well as launch site preparations at Cape Canaveral, where the mission was shifted from its original site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Despite assurances from DOD that its demand for satellite communications will remain insatiable, commercial satcom providers doing business with the military face uncertainty over the next few years as long-planned military-owned satcom systems come online and expected troop drawdowns reduce demand. The last five years have seen strong growth in DOD’s appetite for commercial bandwidth, according to USAF Maj. Gen. James Armor (ret.), former director of the National Security Space Office.
