DigitalGlobe WorldView-2 Satellite Completes Successful Instrument Integration; Progresses to Environmental Testing
February 24 2009 - 9:05AM
PR Newswire (US)
Third Sub-Meter Remote Sensing Satellite Completes Significant
Milestone; Begins System-Level Testing LONGMONT, Colo., BOULDER,
Colo. and ROCHESTER N.Y., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
DigitalGlobe, a leading provider of high-resolution world imagery
solutions, today announced that the WorldView-2 remote sensing
instrument, provided by ITT Corporation's Space Systems Division,
has been integrated by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. into
the WorldView-2 spacecraft and system-level testing has commenced.
The third in DigitalGlobe's constellation of commercial remote
sensing satellites, WorldView-2's advanced agility and high orbit
will expand DigitalGlobe's image collection capabilities to nearly
two million square kilometers per day, and enable faster collection
of the world's geography with multiple daily revisits to a single
location. WorldView-2 will collect an unmatched eight bands of
multi-spectral imagery at 1.8 meter resolution for the truest
depiction of the earth's natural color, in addition to collecting
46-centimeter resolution panchromatic imagery. It is scheduled to
launch in the third quarter of 2009. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090224/LA74415) System level
testing of the WorldView-2 satellite began in January 2009 and will
continue until the satellite is shipped to Vandenberg AFB in
California for launch. The environmental tests will confirm the
design integrity of the spacecraft and will include thermal vacuum,
electromagnetic compatibility, electromagnetic interference,
vibration, shock and acoustic testing. "The construction of the
WorldView-2 satellite is on track and we are pleased with the
progress to date. DigitalGlobe is fortunate to partner with Ball
Aerospace and ITT to bring the most advanced remote sensing
satellite to the market," said Jill Smith, chief executive officer
of DigitalGlobe. "The construction of this satellite and our
constellation expansion signifies our ability to provide the
largest, most comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date library of
imagery possible, and meet the growing demand for premium,
high-resolution world imagery from enterprises, consumer navigation
providers as well as governments." "Ball Aerospace's capabilities
in the remote sensing market continue to advance as WorldView-2
becomes only the second commercial satellite bus after WorldView-1
with Control Moment Gyroscopes that offer greater agility and
targeting 2 to 10 times faster than any other commercial imaging
system," said Cary Ludtke, vice president and general manager for
Ball's civil and operational space unit. The Ball Aerospace BCP
5000 spacecraft, utilized for both the WorldView-1 and Worldview-2,
is designed to handle both next-generation optical and synthetic
aperture radar remote sensing payloads and is currently meeting or
exceeding all performance specifications on the operational
WorldView-1 satellite. The high-performance BCP 5000 has a design
life of more than seven years, and provides a platform with
increased power, agility, flexibility, transmission capability and
data storage. "ITT's imaging system for WorldView-2 benefits from
the company's over 50 years of experience engineering the
industry's most sophisticated, reliable and innovative remote
sensing payloads," said Chris Young, president of ITT Space Systems
Division. "Imagery from this satellite will assist an increasingly
diverse commercial and government customer base in making informed
decisions." To learn more about advanced DigitalGlobe's
constellation of sub-meter satellites, please visit
http://www.digitalglobe.com/. About DigitalGlobe Longmont,
Colorado-based DigitalGlobe (http://www.digitalglobe.com/) is a
leading global content provider of high-resolution world imagery
solutions. Sourced from our own advanced satellite constellation
and aerial network, our imagery solutions deliver a real world
perspective to governments, businesses, technology developers and
humanitarian associations worldwide. The company's imagery
solutions consist of one of the world's largest image libraries,
growing at a rate of up to 1 million square kilometers per day and
distributed and accessed through online search and retrieval,
production ready image layers, development tool-kits for internet
enabled applications and devices, and software solutions for
integration with GIS products and services. DigitalGlobe currently
operates the highest-resolution commercial satellite constellation
with QuickBird and the first of two next-generation satellites,
WorldView-1. The company plans to launch its second next-generation
satellite, WorldView-2, in the third quarter of 2009. DigitalGlobe
is a registered trademark of DigitalGlobe. About Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp. 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
is a technology innovator in aerospace. 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 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2008 sales of more than
$7.5 billion. Ball Aerospace 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; 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 and its effects on liquidity, credit
risk, asset values and the economy; 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. About ITT Corporation
ITT's Space Systems Division, headquartered in Rochester, New York,
provides innovative remote sensing and navigation solutions to
customers in the Department of Defense, intelligence, space science
and commercial aerospace to help them visualize and understand
critical events happening on Earth, in the air, or in space in time
to take effective action. Leveraging comprehensive capabilities,
Space Systems' solutions span from image and data collection
through processing and dissemination. Key applications include
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; high-resolution
commercial imaging; earth and space science; climate and
environmental monitoring; GPS navigation; image and data processing
and dissemination; and space control and missile defense. For more
information on ITT's Space Systems Division, please visit
http://www.ssd.itt.com/. ITT Corporation (http://www.itt.com/) is a
diversified high-technology engineering and manufacturing company
dedicated to creating more livable environments, enabling
communications and providing protection and safety. The company
plays an important role in vital markets including water and fluids
management, global defense and security, and motion and flow
control. ITT employs approximately 40,000 people and generated $9
billion in 2007 sales.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090224/LA74415
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. CONTACT: Public Relations Contact, Ginger
Lennon, Racepoint Group, +1-781-487-4640, , for Ball Aerospace
& Technologies Corp.; or Media Relations Manager, Roz Brown,
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., +1-303-533-6059,
Copyright
Ball (NYSE:BLL)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Ball (NYSE:BLL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024