Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International. She also worked with Discovery Communications, Discovery News and was a founding member of Space.com.
Irene cut her teeth on the space beat at Florida Today newspaper, a business writer enchanted by the colorful entrepreneurs who wanted access to Air Force launch facilities and assets after commercial payloads were taken off the space shuttles following the 1986 Challenger accident. Commercial space remains the focus of her work, along with a keen interest in the search for life beyond Earth.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Irene is the 2014 recipient of the Harry Kolcum Memorial News and Communications Award, named in honor of the late Aviation Week managing editor and Cape Canaveral senior editor who was among Irene’s earliest mentors.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Countdown clocks at Kennedy Space Center began ticking down on April 26 toward the planned April 29 liftoff of space shuttle Endeavour, carrying a particle physics experiment and spare parts to the International Space Station on NASA’s penultimate shuttle flight. Launch of the STS-134 mission, the 25th and final flight for Endeavour, is targeted for 3:47 p.m. EDT. Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Space Wing are forecasting an 80% chance that the weather will be suitable for flight.
The prime contractor for space shuttle operations, United Space Alliance, is positioning itself for survival in the uncertain post-space shuttle era, even as it embarks upon the grim task of cutting its workforce in half.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—Space Florida, a state-backed economic development agency focused on aerospace and spin-off technologies, plans to invest $1 million in a U.K.-based firm that has developed innovative ways to store hydrogen at ambient temperatures. The money is intended to help Cella Energy secure additional outside investment and expand its operations into Florida.
