Ball Aerospace’s QuikSCAT Outperforms Expectations
Five years after its 1999 launch,
the QuikScat (Quick Scatterometer) satellite built by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp. continues its outstanding performance in returning
essential data for global climate monitoring.
QuikSCAT employs a variation of the Ball Commercial Platform 2000 (BCP
2000) bus, the first in a line of spacecraft with proven success and
reliability. The BCP 2000 can accommodate Earth-sensing instrumentation that
requires precision pointing control while maintaining the flexibility needed
for rapid target selection.
“We’re very gratified that QuikSCAT has exceeded its design life,” said
David L. Taylor, Ball Aerospace president and chief executive officer. “Our
BCP 2000 has truly defined the niche for remote sensing platforms produced
under commercial terms, making it the industry standard for cost, schedule and
mission performance.”
Originally designed for a two-year mission, QuikSCAT was delivered in only
11 months. Since that time, the BCP 2000 design has also been utilized for
QuickBird I and QuickBird II. In the near future, the Ball Aerospace-built
bus will be employed on the CloudSat satellite launch in 2005 and for the
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS)
Preparatory Project (NPP) in 2006. WorldView, scheduled to launch no later
than 2006, will employ a larger Ball Aerospace spacecraft bus also based on
the BCP 2000 design.
QuikSCAT measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather
and cloud conditions over the Earth’s oceans. In addition to the bus, Ball
Aerospace provided launch interface systems, system integration and test and
launch support, and continues to perform mission operations through a
subcontract to the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and
Space Physics.
Earlier this year NASA announced that data from QuikSCAT has improved
2- to 5-day forecasts and weather warnings, resulting in economic savings and
a reduction in weather-related loss of life, especially at sea.
Ball Corporation is a leading supplier of high-quality
packaging products and innovative packaging solutions to the beverage and food
industries. The company also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which
develops sensors, spacecraft, systems and components for government and
commercial markets. Ball employs approximately 12,600 people worldwide and
reported 2003 sales of $4.9 billion.
The information in this news release contains “forward-looking” statements
and other statements concerning future events and financial performance.
Words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” and variations of such
words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking 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 the
company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially in
Exhibit 99.2 in the most recent Form 10-K. These filings are available at the
company’s website and at http://www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect the packaging
segments of the company include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand;
competitive packaging material availability, pricing and substitution; changes
in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing yields; industry
productive capacity and competitive activity; lack of productivity improvement
or production cost reductions; the German mandatory deposit or other
restrictive packaging laws; availability and cost of raw materials, such as
resin, steel and aluminum, and the ability to pass on to customers changes in
these costs; changes in major customer contracts or the loss of a major
customer; international business risks, such as foreign exchange rates and tax
rates; and the effect of LIFO accounting on earnings. Factors that might
affect the aerospace segment include: funding, authorization and availability
of government contracts and the nature and continuation of those contracts;
and technical uncertainty associated with segment contracts. Factors that
could affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: successful and
unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures and associated
integration activities; regulatory action or laws including environmental and
workplace safety; goodwill impairment; antitrust and other litigation;
strikes; boycotts; increases in various employee benefits and labor costs;
rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company’s defined
benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; and interest rates affecting our
debt.
