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.
In the coming year the U.S. Navy plans to purchase new hardware and commercial satellite services to increase the communications bandwidth available to ships by 50-70 percent, according to Dave Weddel, assistant deputy chief of naval operations for communications networks. The Navy is eager to replace the services provided by the Inmarsat constellation, which still provides most of the bandwidth for small Navy ships, Weddel said during an Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association luncheon in Arlington, Va., Sept. 5.
Boeing's winning proposal to produce the upper stage of NASA's Ares I rocket prevailed because of its "significantly" lower projected cost, despite rival ATK's proposal rating higher on technical merits, according to a NASA source selection document. NASA announced Boeing's win of the up to $1.125 billion contract last week (DAILY, Aug. 29). ATK's final proposal received a technical rating of "excellent," whereas Boeing's received a final rating of "very good." Both teams were rated excellent in past performance history.
NASA’s award of a contract worth as much as $1.125 billion to Boeing for production of the Ares I upper stage will bring some new managers to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The foam-covered 84-ft. aluminum-lithium stages will be built on the same government-owned factory floor where Lockheed Martin now builds the big foam-covered aluminum-lithium external tanks for the space shuttle fleet. Boeing managers will begin moving into the mammoth facility in advance of the shuttle fleet retirement in 2010 to prepare for the follow-on Ares I work.
