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.
NASA's fiscal year 2006 budget request would boost funding for space exploration to $3.165 billion from $2.684 billion in FY '05, while putting the agency's aeronautics budget on a fairly steady decline through FY '10. The agency's exploration systems area includes all the technologies NASA is developing to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 and pave the way for a human Mars landing. By FY '10, its annual budget is slated to rise to $5.125 billion.
The U.S. Air Force is requesting $102.9 billion for fiscal year 2006, up from $96.7 billion enacted in FY '05, which will include $11.9 billion for aircraft procurement. The budget includes $4.4 billion for the F/A-22 Raptor in FY '06, down from $4.7 billion enacted in FY '05. The money will buy 25 new aircraft and fund long-lead items for 29 more, according to an Air Force budget official.
The Air Force plans to request $9.9 billion for military space systems in fiscal year 2006, up from $8.1 billion in FY '05, as the service continues what a senior Defense Department official called an "across-the-board" modernization of all of its major systems. "All of our capabilities are being updated - weather, communications, missile warning, navigation, launch," a DOD official told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon on Feb. 4.
