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.
An ongoing trial of space-based ship detection by the South African Maritime Safety Authority demonstrated the ability to improve security during the recent World Cup tournament, according to service provider ExactEarth. The Cambridge, Ontario-based company is demonstrating the provision of space-based automatic identification system (AIS) data using a microsatellite in low Earth orbit. The demonstration uses the Canadian Nanosatellite Tracking of Ships (NTS) spacecraft launched in 2008.
The first spacecraft in the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite network, launched Aug. 14, will spend the next three months circularizing its orbit. When circularization is complete, the spacecraft will fly about 22,300 mi. over the equator at 90 deg. W. Long. for a period of satellite checkout and calibration. It will then be moved to an operational orbit, and should be ready to be put into service in early 2011.
The National Academies decadal survey panel on astronomy and astrophysics recommends that NASA seek collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) in developing a space-based wide-field infrared survey telescope (Wfirst) to be launched in 2020—the survey’s top large-scale mission priority. ESA is considering a satellite called Euclid that would perform many of the same functions as Wfirst. “We would encourage NASA to see if the Europeans are interested, now that they know what we’re thinking of,” says Martha Haynes, vice chair of the survey panel.
