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.
After falling in 2002, worldwide civil helicopter sales rebounded in 2003 and are expected to total $18.7 billion over the period from 2003 to 2012, according to a new study by Forecast International. Deliveries over the next decade should rise from 934 units in 2003 to about 970-975 in 2004-2005, before dipping to approximately 925 annual shipments in 2012, according to the forecast. The study projects total shipments of nearly 9,500 commercial helicopters from 2003-2012, including 3,600 piston-powered models.
The contractor teams led by Boeing and Lockheed Martin that have been working on NASA's Orbital Space Plane (OSP) will spend the remainder of their time under existing contracts determining how much of their work could be applied to the agency's more ambitious Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).
Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force have broken ground on construction modifications to Space Launch Complex 3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., that will enable West Coast launch of Lockheed's Atlas V rocket by late 2005. The modifications to existing Atlas launch facilities are scheduled to be complete by the end of the year, according to company officials. After the first Atlas V is brought to the pad early next year, the team will spend five months performing integrated testing with the rocket and the new ground facilities.
