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.
Arianespace is trying to sign a customer for the March 2004 requalification flight of its Ariane 5-ECA vehicle, according to a spokeswoman for the company. The Ariane 5-ECA is an enhanced version of the company's basic Ariane 5 heavy-lift launcher, featuring a new cryogenic upper stage and Vulcain 2 main engine that give it the ability to launch 10 tons of payload. The first flight of the ECA failed last December, destroying Eutelsat's $250 million Hot Bird 7 satellite and prompting a redesign of the engine (DAILY, Dec. 13, 2002).
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., has chosen Northrop Grumman as its industry partner for the proposed Eclipse planet-finder mission, the company announced May 29. Proposed as one of NASA's low-cost Discovery missions, Eclipse would perform the first sensitive imaging of nearby Jupiter-like planetary systems using a high-contrast optical telescope and coronagraphic camera, according to Northrop Grumman.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) likely will take over an effort to develop prototype heavy-lift hybrid airships that was to have been led by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), according to the director of NAVAIR's advanced airship development program office.
