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.
Air Force Col. John Insprucker, system program director for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, hopes the proposed merger of Atlas and Delta rocket operations will make the vehicles more competitive on the commercial market and take pressure off the service as it continues its "assured access" policy of maintaining two distinct launch fleets.
The first operational flight for Boeing's Delta IV Heavy Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle has slipped to January 2006 as a result of recent technical problems with the Delta rocket family, according to the Air Force. "Boeing has had ... various technical issues they've had to solve on other Delta rockets this summer, which has kind of delayed the whole manifest," EELV System Program Director Col. John Insprucker told The DAILY.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker says he's confident that the restructured Future Combat Systems program has enough leeway built in to compensate for unforeseen developmental problems. "We have some insurance here in terms of where there may be risk," Schoomaker said during a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington Aug. 25. "I'm very comfortable that the way we restructured it gives us a heck of a lot better chance of accomplishing it."
