Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International. She also worked with Discovery Communications, Discovery News and was a founding member of Space.com.
Irene cut her teeth on the space beat at Florida Today newspaper, a business writer enchanted by the colorful entrepreneurs who wanted access to Air Force launch facilities and assets after commercial payloads were taken off the space shuttles following the 1986 Challenger accident. Commercial space remains the focus of her work, along with a keen interest in the search for life beyond Earth.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Irene is the 2014 recipient of the Harry Kolcum Memorial News and Communications Award, named in honor of the late Aviation Week managing editor and Cape Canaveral senior editor who was among Irene’s earliest mentors.
A 12U cubesat housing a nearly 900-sq.-ft. solar sail system developed by NASA will launch on a Rocket Lab Electron rideshare mission in mid-2022 for a trial run in low Earth orbit.
The upgrades should help prevent issues encountered during previous flights, including a debris strike that damaged a drogue parachute used during the descent of the Crew-1 mission in May.
The United Arab Emirates plans to follow its ongoing Mars mission with a second spacecraft, slated to launch in 2028, to explore seven asteroids in the main asteroid belt, culminating with a landing attempt in 2033.
