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.
Planetary scientists using NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) are taking advantage of the relatively dust-free springtime atmosphere over the Red Planet’s northern hemisphere to resume terrain observations after a four-month shutdown triggered by a recurrent software problem. Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) last month restarted the orbiter, which had been in a safe mode since it spontaneously reset its computer on Aug. 26.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has issued EADS Astrium a €150-million ($216-million) contract for definition of a higher-power variant of the Ariane 5 intended to keep in step with growing telecom satellite mass and allow the heavy-lift booster to compete against new boosters such as China’s Long March 5 and Russia’s Angara. Expected to make its first flight around 2017, the new version, known as the Ariane 5 ME (Midlife Evolution), will feature a new upper stage, a re-ignitable Vinci upper-stage engine and enhanced avionics and flight software.
Orbital Sciences Corp. finished the year in a flourish with three contracts—a pair of broadband satellites from Swedish-based startup OverHorizon and Avanti Communications, and Intelsat’s IS-23. The OverHorizon satellite, a Ku-band unit to be delivered in early 2012, will be supplied jointly with Thales Alenia Space, which will provide an onboard processing payload. The deals gave Orbital Sciences four telecom satellite awards for 2009 and Thales Alenia five.
