The Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. WorldView-1 satellite built for DigitalGlobe® launched today from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. at 11:35 a.m. PDT, aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket.
The launch of the WorldView-1 satellite is poised to make a major contribution towards the advancement of the commercial remote-sensing industry by providing higher collection capabilities, more frequent revisit time, and greater imaging flexibility.
“With the successful launch of WorldView-1, DigitalGlobe is now better prepared to respond to the growing demand for commercially available, high-resolution imagery,” said David L. Taylor, president and CEO of Ball Aerospace. “Since the launch of QuickBird, our first successful collaboration with DigitalGlobe in 2001, we have rapidly improved both the capability and reliability of these remote-sensing satellites.”
Ball Aerospace built both the satellite bus and WorldView 60 camera/telescope for WorldView-1. WorldView-1 is the only commercial satellite on-orbit equipped with advanced Control Moment Gyroscopes. The Ball-built satellite will offer stunning agility with rapid targeting and efficient in-track stereo collection. Once on-orbit, WorldView-1 will be the world’s first half-meter resolution commercial imaging satellite. Ball Aerospace is currently building WorldView-2 for DigitalGlobe, scheduled for completion in late 2008.
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. Over the past 50 years, Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific ‘firsts’ and acts as a technology innovator for the aerospace market.
Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL – News) is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products for beverage, food and household customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ more than 15,500 people worldwide and reported 2006 sales of $6.6 billion.
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 consumer and customer demand and preferences; availability and cost of raw materials, including recent significant increases in resin, steel, aluminum and energy costs, and the ability to pass such increases on to customers; competitive packaging availability, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; crop yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or production cost reductions, including those associated with our beverage can end project; the German 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; successful or unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; integration of recently acquired businesses; regulatory action or laws including tax, environmental and workplace safety; 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.
