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.
A second round of launch awards in the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program could occur in the latter half of this year, according to Mark Albrecht, president of International Launch Services (ILS). The EELV program is aimed at improving the reliability and reducing the cost of launching by at least 25 percent, compared with the cost of launching current Delta, Atlas, and Titan launch vehicles. The Air Force funded the development of two vehicle families in support of EELV, Boeing's Delta IV and Lockheed Martin's Atlas V.
Boeing has awarded Orbital Sciences Corp. a contract, valued at $900 million or more over eight years, to develop a new booster vehicle for the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program, Orbital Sciences announced Mar. 4. Orbital Science's contract includes $400 million for a development and test phase, to be carried out from 2002 to 2006. If approved, a follow-on $535 million production, deployment and support phase would be conducted from 2003 or 2004 through 2010.
The telecommunications industry must grow before the current lull in satellite launches will abate, according to Clayton Mowry, president of Arianespace, Inc. and former executive director of the Satellite Industry Association. "We need to see some growth in the telecom market, and that's driven by content," Mowry told The DAILY. "If you get growth in the content - Internet, video, and high-definition TV, [etc.] - that'll drive demand for satellites, and in turn drive demand for bigger, more powerful spacecraft and larger launch vehicles."
