VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Oct.
28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA's NPP satellite built by Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. was successfully launched into a
sun-synchronous polar orbit this morning at 2:48 PDT (5:48
EDT).
NASA's first Earth-observing satellite to measure both global
climate and key weather data lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force
Base aboard a Delta II rocket. NPP's five science instruments
will make critical measurements to provide long-term climate
projections and data to improve short-term weather forecasts.
Ball Aerospace built the BCP 2000 satellite bus for Goddard
Space Flight Center under fixed-price terms. Ball also built
one of the five sensors aboard NPP - the Ozone Mapping and Profiler
Suite – an instrument that will measure how much ozone is in our
atmosphere and how the ozone concentration varies with
altitude.
"We are confident NASA's long-standing Earth-observation records
will dramatically improve with the successful launch of NPP," said
David L. Taylor, president and CEO
of Ball Aerospace. "The NPP mission will bridge critical data
while Ball Aerospace builds the first next-generation
polar-orbiting satellite - JPSS-1."
JPSS-1 is the Joint Polar-Orbiting Satellite System scheduled to
launch no earlier than 2017. JPSS data and imagery will
further increase timeliness, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness of
public warnings and forecasts of climate and weather events.
NPP has a five-year mission life and a seven-year design life.
The spacecraft bus is the eighth spacecraft built by Ball Aerospace
on the same BCP core architecture. In all, this architecture has
more than 50 years of successful on-orbit operations. Additionally,
the NPP spacecraft incorporates both MIL-STD-1553 and IEEE 1394 (FireWire) data networks
to support the payload suite.
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 information visit www.ballaerospace.com.
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) is a supplier of high quality
packaging 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 2010 sales of more than
$7.6 billion. For the latest Ball
news and for other company information, please visit
http://www.ball.com.
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 on our website and at
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; mandatory
deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; changes in major
customer or supplier contracts or loss of a major customer or
supplier; political instability and sanctions; and changes in
foreign exchange rates or tax rates. 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
recent global recession and its effects on liquidity, credit risk,
asset values and the economy; successful or unsuccessful
acquisitions; regulatory action or laws including tax,
environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and
other actions affecting products filled in our containers, or
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; uncertainties
surrounding the U.S. government budget and debt limit; reduced cash
flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and changes to unaudited
results due to statutory audits or other effects.
SOURCE Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.