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.
Members of the Launch Services Alliance defended the arrangement against criticisms that it is "pointless" during a panel discussion in Washington Feb. 21, with Boeing Sea Launch President Robert Peckham arguing that it really does provide schedule assurance even if manifests appear booked up. Formed in 2003, the Launch Services Alliance is an agreement between Sea Launch, Arianespace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in which each company's fleet of rockets serves as a backup to the others to provide schedule assurance for their customers.
Sea Launch is hoping to conduct two more launches before the end of 2007, according to President Robert Peckham, following the Jan. 30 failure that destroyed the SES New Skies NSS-8 communications satellite and its Zenit-3SL booster. Prior to the failure, the company had six launches on its manifest for 2007, which is the maximum the equatorial Odyssey launch platform can manage in a year due to processing times. The company conducted five flights in 2006.
A staffer for House Strategic Forces subcommittee chair Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) sees little chance for major reform of U.S. export control law in the near term, despite the recent congressional leadership changeover. The two House committees with jurisdiction over export control -International Relations and House Armed Services - still have leadership that "is more pro-security than pro-business in many ways," said Simon Limage, Tauscher's deputy chief of staff. "I would see a fairly conservative outlook for major change in the short term."
