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 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) has emerged from a program restructuring larger and heavier than before, but with an extra performance margin that managers hope will help the program avoid further setbacks.
NASA released on Nov. 24 preliminary cost estimates for the space shuttle's return to flight as part of an update to its evolving return-to-flight (RTF) implementation plan. The RTF initiatives that have begun so far totaled $60 million in fiscal 2003 and are projected to cost $175 million in FY '04, according to NASA (see chart).
A $200 million cut in the International Space Station's (ISS) fiscal 2004 budget would deplete funding margins and leave little room for error as NASA prepares to resume station assembly following the return of the space shuttle, according to Administrator Sean O'Keefe. According to congressional sources, a House-Senate conference committee has agreed to cut $200 million from the Bush Administration's $1.7 billion FY '04 budget request for the ISS on the assumption that the program can afford the loss while assembly is on hold (DAILY, Nov. 21).
