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.
Northrop Grumman has no plans to close any of its shipyards, according to company president and CEO Ron Sugar, despite the cuts in ship production outlined in the Navy's fiscal year 2006 budget. Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems division has four major shipyards - three along the Gulf Coast and one in Newport News, Va. For the time being, "we've got a significant backlog of orders in all of those yards," Sugar said during a press briefing in Washington Feb. 15.
NASA is developing a self-contained flight termination system for rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that the agency thinks could greatly reduce the ground infrastructure, turnaround time, and cost of future launches.
The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation released its draft safety guidelines for space tourism on Feb. 11, in anticipation of developing final regulations no later than June 2006. According to the guidelines, reusable launch vehicle (RLV) operators should inform space tourists in writing about the risks of flight, including the safety records of both the vehicle they will fly on and other manned space vehicles (DAILY, Feb. 11).
