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.
The U.S. Defense Department's use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the war on terrorism continues to expand, with hundreds of UAVs currently deployed with U.S. forces overseas, according to Dyke Weatherington, head of the Pentagon's UAV Planning Task Force.
SkyTower Inc. is seeking $40-50 million in government funding to pay for the development of a commercial follow-on to the Helios unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that could serve as a long-duration telecommunications platform. Jointly developed by NASA and SkyTower parent company AeroVironment, Helios had a 247-foot wingspan but weighed less than an average car. The highly flexible flying wing was in the midst of a flight-test program designed to demonstrate flight durations of several days when it crashed last year (DAILY, June 30, 2003).
Space Imaging's future is in doubt following the loss of the second and final NextView contract, which was integral to the development of the company's next-generation imaging satellites. Competitors DigitalGlobe of Longmont, Colo., and Orbimage of Dulles, Va., both have received NextView contracts from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) that could be worth up to $500 million each and will help the companies build next-generation imaging satellites with resolutions of 0.5 meters or higher.
