Ball Aerospace Begins Final Integration and Test for NPOESS Preparatory Project OMPS Instrument
August 13 2008 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp.'s Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS)
Protoflight Model (PFM) that will fly aboard the National
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)
Preparatory Project (NPP) has entered final integration and
acceptance testing. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080813/LAW021) Ball Aerospace
expects to complete integration and testing in August, and deliver
the OMPS PFM for spacecraft integration no later than September 30.
OMPS is one of five sensors built for the NPP risk reduction
mission, scheduled to launch in 2010. The NPP mission, a joint
effort between NASA and the NPOESS Integrated Program Office, is
designed to extend key measurements in support of long-term climate
trend monitoring and global biological productivity and prove
technologies for the NPOESS mission. Northrop Grumman Corp. is the
prime contractor for NPOESS, leading the effort to design, develop
and launch the next generation low-Earth orbiting operational
environmental monitoring system. Initial assembly has also begun on
the OMPS Flight Model 2 for the first NPOESS spacecraft. Nadir
sensor fabrication is well underway with both focal planes complete
and fabrication of the main electronics box has begun. The OMPS FM2
delivery is scheduled for December 2010, in preparation for the
NPOESS launch scheduled for 2013. OMPS will monitor ozone from
space, collect total column and vertical profile ozone data, and
continue the current daily global data provided by the Solar
Backscatter Ultraviolet radiometer (SBUV)/2 and Total Ozone Mapping
Spectrometer (TOMS), but with higher fidelity. Ball Aerospace is
also building the NPP spacecraft, a modified Ball Commercial
Platform (BCP) 2000 under a contract to the Goddard Space Flight
Center Rapid Spacecraft Development Office. 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. Since 1956, 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, the
current global credit squeeze, successful or unsuccessful
acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; integration of
recently acquired businesses; regulatory action or laws including
tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including in
respect of chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the
manufacturing process; 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/20080813/LAW021 DATASOURCE:
Ball Aerospace CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball Aerospace,
+1-303-533-6059, Web site: http://www.ballaerospace.com/
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