SpaceNews has hired Jeff Foust, a veteran space journalist and industry analyst, as senior staff writer to expand the company’s coverage of civil and commercial space. 

Foust has more than a decade of experience writing about space policy, entrepreneurial ventures and regulatory affairs. In 2001, he established SpaceToday.net to aggregate and summarize the day’s space-related news stories. In 2003, he started The Space Review, a weekly publication of long-form articles and commentary on a wide range of space topics. Both sites will continue operation in association with SpaceNews.

“I’m excited to be joining the talented team at SpaceNews,” Foust said. “I look forward to helping SpaceNews expand its coverage of the industry.”

For more than 10 years, Foust also operated Space Politics, a Web-based blog devoted to space policy topics; his commercial space blog, NewSpace Journal, started more than eight years ago. The sites will no longer be updated, but their archives will remain available indefinitely. 

Foust will continue to provide insightful analysis and objective reporting each week through the print and digital editions of SpaceNews and each day on SpaceNews.com.

He also will be involved in developing new approaches for reporting about the space industry.

“We’re thrilled to have Jeff join our editorial team,” SpaceNews Executive Editor Warren Ferster said. “He’s a prolific writer who belts out clean, thoughtful, even-handed copy.”

Bill Klanke, SpaceNews’ president and publisher, said hiring Foust is in keeping with the company’s commitment to strong editorial content. “We’ve built our brand on the strength of our editorial,” he said. “As we mark 25 years of covering the business and politics of space, what better way to lean into this pivotal moment — not just for us as a company, but the entire space industry — than to bring on someone of Jeff’s caliber.”

While building and operating his websites, Foust worked as a senior analyst at Bethesda, Maryland-based Futron Corp., a privately held consultancy recently sold to Washington-based Avascent. He is now out of the consulting business, enabling him to dedicate all of his professional energies to journalism. 

“Jeff is one of those guys who seems to be everywhere,” said Brian Berger, SpaceNews deputy editor and lead editor of SpaceNews.com. “I can’t wait to see what we accomplish with Jeff finally devoting his talents to journalism full time.”

Foust has previously written for a number of other publications, including Ad Astra, Astronomy Now, National Geographic News and Sky & Telescope. He earned a doctorate in planetary science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and a Bachelor of Science with honors in geophysics and planetary science from the California Institute of Technology in 1993.