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.
NEW DELHI — India’s Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) plans to test its 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) range Agni-V ballistic missile in a year’s time, following the third successful trial of the 3,500-kilometer range Agni-3 on Feb. 7. Agni-5 is in the subsystem testing phase, according to DRDO chief V.K. Saraswat, scientific advisor to the defense minister.
NASA is preparing to launch the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) on Feb. 10 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., after pushing back 24 hours to accommodate the slip in the launch of space shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-130. The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket carrying SDO is sitting on the pad at Launch Complex 41, having arrived there at 8:30 a.m. EST on Feb. 9. The Feb. 10 launch is set to occur during a window of 10:26 a.m.-11:26 a.m. The mission marks the first of 10 planned launches by ULA this year.
The U.S. Air Force is beginning to reclaim government management of sustainment of its large fighter, transport and, eventually, unmanned aircraft fleets after a wholesale review of its maintenance oversight practices. The service announced last week it will restructure the oversight of C-17 sustainment after Boeing’s current contractor logistics support (CLS) contract runs out at the end of Fiscal 2011. The current contract is worth roughly $1 billion annually.
