Ball Aerospace Awarded JPSS-1 Satellite Contract

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has awarded Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. a contract for the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) satellite.   Procured by NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), JPSS-1 will ensure continuity of vital climate and weather data records.  

Ball Aerospace will be responsible for designing and building the JPSS-1 satellite bus, integrating all instruments, and performing satellite-level testing and launch support.  Ball Aerospace is also under contract to deliver NPP, the precursor spacecraft to JPSS-1, as well as the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), one of the critical scientific instruments to fly aboard the spacecraft.  On September 21, NPP completed its pre-environmental review in preparation for pre-flight testing.

"We are eager to begin work on this critical national weather and climate system to meet NOAA's 2014 launch requirement," said David L. Taylor, Ball Aerospace President and CEO. "Ball Aerospace is deeply committed to the success of the JPSS program and plans to mirror our successful performance on NPP in order to provide NASA and NOAA the best value system."  

JPSS-1, a clone of the NPP satellite, employs the Ball Commercial Platform (BCP) 2000 spacecraft bus.  With more than 50-years of successful on-orbit operations, the BCP spacecraft line is a proven, customizable spacecraft design that accommodates a wide range of payloads.

JPSS is the restructured civilian portion of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). This includes the satellites and sensors that support civil weather and climate measurements, as well as a ground system that will be shared with the Department of Defense weather satellite system. NASA is acting as the acquisition agent to procure these assets. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has the lead for acquisition of the restructured program for NOAA.

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 14,000 people worldwide and reported 2009 sales of more than $7.3 billion including discontinued operations.

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 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; 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 current global recession 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 climate change, 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; 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.

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