BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ball
Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Suomi National Polar-orbiting
Partnership (NPP) satellite built for NASA, marked one year on
orbit, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121108/LA08510)
Suomi NPP is the bridge to the next-generation U.S. civil
polar-orbiting Earth-observation satellite system. It provides
continuity of critical observations for accurate weather
forecasting, reliable severe storm outlooks, global measurements of
atmospheric and oceanic conditions such as sea surface
temperatures, ozone, and more.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses the
satellite data in models for medium- and long-term weather
forecasting. Suomi NPP will also improve and extend climate
measurements for 30 different environmental data records of the
atmosphere, land, ocean, climate, and space environment.
Under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Ball
Aerospace built the Suomi NPP satellite, the Ozone Mapping and
Profiler Suite instrument aboard the satellite, integrated all five
of the spacecraft's instruments, and conducted satellite testing
prior to launch. Ball Aerospace is now building the successor
to Suomi NPP, the JPSS-1satellite and its OMPS instrument for a
2017 launch. JPSS satellites are being developed by NASA for the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"The Ball-built Suomi NPP satellite is delivering critical
weather forecasting information as well as the data needed for
technological and scientific advancement in climate and
oceanographic science," said David L.
Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace. "Ball's
expertise is now being leveraged for JPSS-1 to ensure these vital
global observations continue uninterrupted."
Suomi NPP was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a
sun-synchronous orbit, producing coverage of nearly the entire
Earth with 14 orbits per day. Suomi NPP orbits Earth every
102 minutes, and to date has completed more than 5,000 orbits
capturing data from the Earth's land, oceans and atmosphere.
On Oct. 24, 2012, the NASA/NOAA
2012 ozone measurements were released using the Ball
Aerospace-built Ozone and Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) aboard
Suomi NPP for the first time.
The NPP spacecraft is a member of the Ball Configurable Platform
(BCP) family of spacecraft designed for cost-effective, remote
sensing applications. Its proven design accommodates a wide range
of payloads, including optical applications with sub-meter
resolutions and synthetic aperture radar. The NPP spacecraft bus is
the eighth of 11 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.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical
missions for 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 2011 sales of more than
$8.6 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.