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.
Financial experts say the credit crunch is forcing more telecom satellite startups to resort to project financing—funding backed mainly by expected cash flow—supported by export credit agency guarantees. The export guarantees are being driven by growing aggressiveness from France’s Coface—as illustrated by a Globalstar deal signed last month (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 24)—that experts say is causing the U.S. Export-Import Bank to begin to stir. One example is ABS-2, a C-/Ku-band spacecraft that Asia Broadcasting Satellite (ABS) of Hong Kong wants to orbit to 75 deg. E. Long.
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Russian cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov and space tourist Charles Simonyi landed safely in their Soyuz spacecraft in the steppes of southern Kazakhstan at 2:16 a.m. CDT April 8. The Expedition 18 crew members undocked their Russian Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft from the International Space Station at 10:55 p.m. April 7. The deorbit burn began at 1:24 a.m. April 8. The landing site was shifted south because of poor conditions at the original target site, according to NASA.
CHECKING OUT: Orbital checkout is under way for the U.S. Air Force’s second Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) spacecraft, which was launched successfully from Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 3. Built by Boeing at its factory in El Segundo, Calif., WGS-2 lifted off at 8:31 p.m. EDT aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 421 rocket. A ground station in Dongara, Australia, received the military communication satellite’s first signals 44 minutes later, and Boeing has confirmed that the satellite is functioning normally.
