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.
Following the July 3 completion of its acquisition of PanAmSat, Intelsat is embarking on an 18-month integration plan that includes closing 14 facilities and reducing the companies' combined work force from 1,400 employees down to roughly 1,000. The staff cuts will eliminate redundant positions and should be two-thirds complete within the first 12 months, according to Intelsat COO James Frownfelter. At the same time, the company will be adding customer service personnel, he said.
In a nod to both the Apollo program and to Mars as an eventual destination for astronauts, NASA has named its new shuttle-derived orbital rockets the Ares 1 and Ares 5. Ares, the Greek name for Mars, "connects to our vision of going to the moon, Mars and beyond," Associate Administrator for Exploration Scott Horowitz said during a press conference at Kennedy Space Center June 30. "We didn't name it after the [Greek] god of war. That's not our intent."
The U.S. Navy has cleared the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet's Raytheon-built APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to enter its operational evaluation (OPEVAL), the company announced June 30.
