Ball Aerospace Celebrates 50 Years of Innovation
April 04 2006 - 2:14PM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., April 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp., a leader in the development of
spacecraft, sensors, systems and components for government and
commercial programs, is celebrating five decades of distinctive
contributions to the aerospace and defense industry. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-a ) (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-b ) (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-c ) (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-d ) (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-e ) "Our
company formed in 1956, a year before the official start of the
Space Race," said Ball Aerospace President and CEO, Dave Taylor.
"It has an original and fascinating history in the aerospace
industry and its commitment to excellence at all levels is
evidenced by our customers continued confidence." In the past five
years, the company has nearly doubled its sales. This growth has
been organic, emerging from core technologies and capabilities, and
continued customer confidence in the company's innovative
applications of technology to important national missions. From the
outset, Ball Aerospace has been a part of packaging manufacturer
Ball Corporation. The company is unique within the industry, and
remains unique due to a combination of longevity, innovation, and
the absence of major mergers, acquisitions or divestitures. "Ball
was built on a foundation of technical innovation," says Taylor,
"We're agile and compete successfully as an aerospace leader
because creativity and technical excellence are cultivated and
encouraged. Our corporate culture fosters a passion for science,
innovation and ever-better solutions to business practices." Now a
company of some 3,000 employees with 2005 sales of $695 million,
the company essentially began as a start-up before the term was
coined. In early 1956, a leading group of scientists from the
University of Colorado hooked-up with Ed Ball, one of the
descendants of the company's original founders, to form what was
then called Ball Brothers Research Corporation. Two years later, in
1958, they tested the company's first rocket pointing control from
New Mexico's Holloman Air Force Base. Building spacecraft was a
logical next step for what would become Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. The company was a pioneer in the development of
spin-stabilized satellites, contributing significantly to what
scientists at NASA had discovered about the relationship between
the sun and Earth. NASA awarded a contract for the first Orbiting
Solar Observatory, or OSO, to Ball. Following the first OSO
spacecraft launch in 1962, the company delivered an additional six
equally successful OSOs. Ball Aerospace has built strength in
several areas, including space science and exploration; space-based
monitoring of the Earth's weather and environment; intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance; supporting the military in
creating an integrated battlespace; and building space superiority
for the nation. The company is a leading provider of conformal
antennas for critical tactical defense missions, and helps advance
the expansive growth of the commercial remote sensing industry by
providing spacecraft and instruments. The company's 50th
anniversary follows a year of record financial performance,
underscored by its significant contributions to some of the most
successful missions in 2005, including Deep Impact and the HiRISE
camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Already in 2006, the
Ball-built camera called Ralph was launched to Pluto on the New
Horizons mission, and the CloudSat spacecraft and CALIPSO
instrument, also built by Ball, is scheduled to be launched in
April to monitor the Earth's atmospheric clouds and aerosols.
Before the close of 2006, Ball Aerospace expects to contribute to
yet another one-of-a-kind mission: Orbital Express, the on-orbit
servicing demonstration spacecraft. "Ball Aerospace is a place for
talented people to thrive in a collaborative, focused environment,"
says Taylor. "The engineers, scientists and technicians who make up
most of our workforce have helped create a better understanding of
the Earth and universe, protect our nation, and keep the spirit of
curiosity alive. The fact that we are celebrating 50 years
indicates that our customers recognize the level of excellence our
people bring to the table. "I truly believe that the culture we've
generated in the past 50 years positions us for a bright future,"
said Taylor. Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is a supplier of
high-quality metal and plastic packaging products and owns Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which develops sensors,
spacecraft, systems and components for government and commercial
customers. Ball reported 2005 sales of $5.8 billion and the company
employs 15,600 people worldwide. Forward-Looking Statements This
news release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning
future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," "estimates," and variations of same and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could
cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and
uncertainties are summarized in filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including in Exhibit 99.2 in our Form 10-K.
These filings are available at our Web site and at
http://www.sec.gov/. Factors that might affect our packaging
segments include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand and
preferences; availability and cost of raw materials, including
recent significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy
costs, and the ability to pass such increases on to customers;
competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution;
changes in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing
yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity;
failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or
production cost reductions, including those associated with our
beverage can end project; the German mandatory deposit or other
restrictive packaging laws; changes in major customer or supplier
contracts or loss of a major customer or supplier; changes in
foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign
subsidiaries; and the effect of LIFO accounting. Factors that might
affect our aerospace segment include: funding, authorization,
availability and returns of government contracts; and delays,
extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts.
Factors that might affect the company as a whole include those
listed plus: acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures;
regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental and
workplace safety; governmental investigations; technological
developments and innovations; goodwill impairment; antitrust,
patent and other litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of
return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined
benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; interest rates
affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited results due to
statutory audits or other effects.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-b
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-c
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-d
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060404/LATU100-e
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., +1-303-939-6146,
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