Based in Washington, Jen manages Aviation Week’s worldwide defense, space and security coverage.
Prior to taking on her current role, Jen was Aviation Week's Congressional Editor. Jen came to Aviation Week in March 2011 from Politico, where she covered the intersection of defense and politics. She also worked as a reporter and editor for Defense Daily, Inside the Army, The Other Paper and The Columbus Dispatch.
Jen received a Master’s degree in journalism as a Kiplinger Fellow at the Ohio State University. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in history and journalism from the University of Michigan.
Democrats in the House and Senate are at odds over how long to extend government indemnification, or compensation, for any third-party damages resulting from commercial space launches. Democratics on the House Science Committee want a “clean” one-year extension of indemnification provisions, which expire at year-end. That will give the panel time to hold hearings on the issue, without blurring the liability that commercial launch providers would face if the law is allowed to lapse, explains Rep.
Uncle Sam's sequestration may accomplish what Chinese and Russian anti-satellite efforts have not: undermining U.S. space capability. That is one of the emerging conclusions of an industrial base assessment by the Commerce Department, shared with Aviation Week.
Debate on the Senate’s version of the fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill is underway, and lawmakers are considering a long list of amendments, including one that proposes to limit the retirement of the A-10 Thunderbolt. The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), would prevent the Air Force from retiring or placing the A-10 in storage until the F-35A is fully operational — a milestone that Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh has said he hopes will happen in 2021.
