Unmated Operations Resume for Successful Orbital Express Mission
June 18 2007 - 1:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The nation's
first autonomous satellite servicing demonstration has resumed
unmated demonstration activities as the successful Orbital Express
mission between Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.'s Next
Generation Satellite and Commodities Spacecraft (NextSat/CSC), and
Boeing's Autonomous Space Transfer and Robotic Orbiter (ASTRO,)
continues its three month mission. Both satellites for the Orbital
Express mission were built for the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency. Technologically advanced feats accomplished since
launch on March 8 include: -- Spacecraft separation of 10 meters,
followed by one hour of formation flying before successful
re-mating. Both satellites operated autonomously, almost
exclusively without the need for ground control. -- Multiple
successful transfers of hydrazine and the battery orbital
replacement unit between ASTRO and NextSat using ASTRO's robotic
arm. This marked the first time hardware has been autonomously
transferred between unmanned spacecraft on orbit. These activities
pave the way for the final goal of achieving separation to a
distance of 7 km and re-mating, to conclude the nominal
demonstration. The Orbital Express mission will help determine the
feasibility of extending the life of future on-orbit spacecraft by
refueling or even upgrading them in space. The mission was designed
to include demonstrations of short range separation, proximity
operations, and capture. "The innovative technologies employed on
the Orbital Express mission demonstrate and support goals to reduce
costs, improve safety, and extend the life of satellites by five,
10, or even 15 years," said David L. Taylor, president and CEO of
Ball Aerospace. Ball Aerospace adapted significant elements from
its highly successful Deep Impact spacecraft in building
NextSat/CSC, including software, command and data handling, and
power control. Other elements were derived from the Ball Commercial
Platform, such as the narrow-band telecom architecture from the
Ball-built CloudSat spacecraft, launched in 2006. Images available
at: http://www.darpa.mil/orbitalexpress/mission_updates.html Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. 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 acts as a technology
innovator for the aerospace market. Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) is
a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products for
beverage, food and household customers, and of aerospace and other
technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball
Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 15,500 people
worldwide and reported 2006 sales of $6.6 billion. 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; and changes in
foreign exchange rates, tax rates and activities of foreign
subsidiaries. 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. DATASOURCE: Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. CONTACT: media, Roz Brown of
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., +1-303-939-6146,
+1-303-533-6059, Web site: http://www.ballaerospace.com/
http://www.darpa.mil/orbitalexpress/mission_updates.html
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