Ball Aerospace's NextSat Launched for Orbital Express Mission
March 08 2007 - 11:58PM
PR Newswire (US)
Robotic Mission Supports Future of U.S. National Security BOULDER,
Colo., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The first-of-its kind,
autonomous servicing demonstration satellite launched on Thursday,
March 8, 2007, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The three-month space
mission is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA). (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070308/LATH101 ) The Orbital
Express (OE) Advanced Technology Demonstration Program
dual-satellite mission, includes the Next Generation Satellite and
Commodities Spacecraft (NextSat/CSC), built by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., and the Autonomous Space Transfer and Robotic
Orbiter (ASTRO) built by The Boeing Company. The mission is
designed to demonstrate the capability of robotic refueling,
autonomous rendezvous and docking, as well as repairs and equipment
upgrades of a spacecraft on-orbit. "This pioneering demonstration
advances critical technologies that support national security
missions," said David L. Taylor, president and chief executive
officer of Ball Aerospace. "A successful Orbital Express
demonstration could revolutionize future space systems both in
terms of cost and the extension of spacecraft life." The two
spacecraft are designed to transfer between them spacecraft fuel
and two Orbital Replacement Units, a battery and computer. On orbit
they will separate and demonstrate rendezvous and capture from
increasing distances and levels of autonomy. Ball Aerospace's
NextSat/CSC employs architecture adapted from the successful Deep
Impact Impactor, including software, command and data handling, and
power switching; as well as elements from BCP-2000, such as the
narrow-band telecom architecture from the Ball-built CloudSat. The
Deep Impact Impactor was able to autonomously steer itself into the
path of comet Tempel 1 in 2005, using similar technologies that the
NextSat/CSC spacecraft bus will use to demonstrate rendezvous and
capture sequences during its mission. The prototype ASTRO servicing
satellite and the surrogate next generation serviceable satellite,
NextSat system were a payload on the Air Force Space Test Program
STP-1 mission. The Orbital Express program is funded through DARPA
and managed by The Boeing Company. The Orbital Express contractor
team includes Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boeing,
Northrop Grumman Corporation, McDonald Dettwiler and Associates
Ltd., Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. and Starsys Research
Corp. Ball Aerospace supports critical missions of important
national agencies such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA and
other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops
and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors,
components, data exploitation systems and RF solutions for
strategic, tactical and scientific applications. Over the past 50
years, Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous
technological and scientific "firsts" and now acts as a technology
innovator for the aerospace market. Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is
a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products and
owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Ball reported 2006
sales of $6.6 billion and employs 15,500 people. Forward-Looking
Statements This release contains "forward-looking" statements
concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as
"expects," "anticipates," "estimates" 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 Exhibit 99.2 in our Form 10-K, which 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; crop 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; the effect
of LIFO accounting and any changes to such accounting. Factors that
might affect our aerospace segment include: funding, authorization,
availability and returns of government and commercial contracts;
and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting
segment contracts. Factors that might affect the company as a whole
include those listed plus: accounting changes; successful or
unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures;
integration of recently acquired businesses; 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; pension changes; 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/20070308/LATH101
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace CONTACT: Roz
Brown of Ball Aerospace, +1-303-533-6059, or +1-720-934-9980,
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