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.
Orbital Recovery Ltd. has signed an agreement with Dutch Space of Leiden, the Netherlands, to develop a "space tug" that would launch as a payload adapter on an Ariane 5 rocket, the company announced last week. Orbital Recovery Ltd. selected Dutch Space to develop and build the ConeXpress Orbital Recovery System (ORS) vehicle after performing an international survey of space hardware manufacturers, according to the company.
NASA is pushing back the release of the final request for proposals (RFP) for its Orbital Space Plane (OSP) program, which contractors originally expected to receive on Nov. 26. The findings of an external review of the OSP's requirements may be contributing to the delay, although NASA still plans to release the RFP in the "near term" according to spokeswoman Kim Newton. Slay Enterprises Inc. performed the review.
The Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV) that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) hopes to have in operation by 2025 could weigh as much as a million pounds, according to Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman is competing with Lockheed Martin and Andrews Space Inc. of Seattle, Wash., in Phase 1 of DARPA's Force Application and Launch from the Continental U.S. (FALCON) program, which is aimed at developing technologies for hypersonic strike weapons systems (DAILY, Nov. 18).
