Ball Aerospace GFO Satellite Begins Eleventh Year On Orbit
April 09 2008 - 8:03AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., April 9, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. operational altimeter satellite,
GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO), has achieved 10 years of successful on
orbit operation, providing continuous worldwide oceanographic data
for ships at sea and the Navy's shore-based facilities. GFO,
launched in February 1998, was the first real-time, radar altimeter
satellite built for the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems
Command. The follow-on to the highly successful GEOSAT-A, the GFO
satellite completed 154 exact repeat cycles in February 2008. "The
GFO satellite continues to operate beyond its design life,
providing ocean observation critical to both naval planners and
oceanographers," said Jeff Osterkamp, vice president and general
manager for Ball Aerospace's National Defense Solutions business
unit. Currently the Radar Altimeter is being power cycled on/off
during eclipse periods to maintain the satellite electrical power
system. Ball Aerospace built the spacecraft bus, procured the
payload and launch services and supplied the system software and
hardware for the mission's ground support stations. Ball also
provided the integrated antenna for the payload's altimeter and
radiometer as well as the global positioning system and
communications antennas. Although primarily a Navy tactical
satellite, GFO is important for weather research and its mission
data has lead to vast improvements in our knowledge of ocean
circulation by measuring subtle differences in sea surface height
associated with ocean currents and eddies. The GFO altimeter also
provides information about wave height, and sea and glacier ice.
The GFO satellite is controlled by the Naval Satellite Operations
Center. In addition to transmitting data directly to Navy ships,
GFO stores global data and passes it via remote receiving stations
to the Naval Oceanographic Office. NOAA is responsible for
distribution to NASA and the civil and scientific communities. 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. For more than
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 products 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 2007 sales of $7.4 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
product 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;
competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated productivity
improvements or production cost reductions, including our beverage
can end project; 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; changes in senior
management; 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: Roz Brown of Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp., +1-303-533-6059, Web site:
http://www.ballaerospace.com/
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