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.
The launch of the first satellite in the Air Force's Space Based Surveillance System (SBSS) is likely to slip several months from its previous June 2007 target as a result of the $27 million cut in the program's fiscal year 2005 budget levied by Congress this summer.
The Force Application and Launch from the Continental U.S. (FALCON) program is adjusting to congressional restrictions placed on it for fiscal year 2005, dropping for now the development of a penetrating munition for the Air Force's Common Aero Vehicle (CAV).
Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne completed its first qualification flight to win the Ansari X Prize Sept. 29, reaching suborbital space despite an unexpected roll that caused pilot Mike Melvill to shut the vehicle's rocket engine off 11 seconds early. SpaceShipOne and its White Knight carrier aircraft took off from the Civilian Aerospace Test Center at Mojave Airport at 7:12 a.m. Pacific time. After being carried to 47,000 feet, SpaceShipOne detached and fired its SpaceDev-built hybrid rocket engine.
