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.
Congressional auditors still see a bevy of issues clouding the future of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), including potential production hiccups as designs continue to evolve, uncertain cost estimates and development problems with the vessel’s crucial mission packages.
An ongoing trial of space-based ship detection by the South African Maritime Safety Authority demonstrated the ability to improve security during the recent World Cup tournament, according to service provider ExactEarth. The Cambridge, Ontario-based company is demonstrating the provision of space-based automatic identification system (AIS) data using a microsatellite in low Earth orbit. The demonstration uses the Canadian Nanosatellite Tracking of Ships (NTS) spacecraft launched in 2008.
A new program is using the 66-spacecraft Iridium constellation to provide continuous, global monitoring of space weather. Known as the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (Ampere), it is a collaboration between the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Iridium and Boeing. Ampere provides real-time measurements of Earth’s magnetic field, with up to 100 times greater sampling density than previously possible.
