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.
SERV AWARD: Lockheed Martin announced March 20 that it received a $23.9 million contract modification from Northrop Grumman to provide hardware for the next phase of full-rate production on the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Safety Enhanced Re-entry Vehicle (SERV) program. In this phase, Lockheed Martin will deliver 120 more full-rate production SERV hardware kits by December 2010. With options, the total value of the contract over seven years is estimated at $137 million.
A LEGEND PASSES: Space visionary and author Arthur C. Clarke died March 19 at his home in Sri Lanka, after reportedly suffering respiratory problems. He was 90 years old. Clarke is credited with first proposing the concept of geostationary satellite communications in a 1945 article in Wireless World magazine. The first geostationary telecommunications satellite, Syncom 3, was launched in 1964. In later years Clarke also championed the concept of space elevators as a low-cost means of transferring cargo to orbit.
NOAA AWARDS: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has chosen Integrity Applications Inc., of Chantilly, Va., for an award worth up to $9.9 million to provide systems engineering and technical support for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) system.
