BOULDER, Colo., April 12, 2013 \/PRNewswire\/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been selected by the U.S. Air Force to perform risk reduction work on the next generation of microwave sounding and imaging instruments for the Weather Satellite Follow-on program. <\/p>\n
(Logo: http:\/\/photos.prnewswire.com\/prnh\/20130108\/LA39163LOGO<\/a>) <\/p>\n Under a contract awarded by the Space and Missile Systems Center, El Segundo, California, Ball Aerospace will investigate how to best achieve Department of Defense requirements for measuring soil moisture and ocean surface vector winds with a microwave instrument designed to fit into smaller, lower-cost launch vehicles. This effort shares a heritage with the state-of-the-art Global Precipitation Monitoring Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument, which Ball Aerospace built and recently delivered to NASA for the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. <\/p>\n \"This risk reduction effort will help the Air Force develop an affordable system for space-based environmental sensing,\" said Tim Harris, vice president and general manager of Ball Aerospace's National Defense business unit. \"Ball's experience with other similar systems lays the foundation to address the nation's highest priority defense weather requirements.\" <\/p>\n Ball Aerospace has a long history of designing and manufacturing cost effective remote sensing systems for defense, civil and commercial applications. Ball built the satellite bus and the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) instrument for the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite, NOAA's most recent polar-orbiting weather satellite, and is currently building the satellite bus and an additional copy of OMPS for NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System. Ball Aerospace also built the Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument that launched aboard the Landsat Data Continuity Mission on February 11 and began delivering images in March. <\/p>\n 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 http:\/\/www.ballaerospace.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n Ball Corporation (BLL) is a supplier of high quality packaging for beverage, food, and household products, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ approximately 15,000 people worldwide and reported 2012 sales of more than $8.7 billion. For the latest Ball news and for other company information, please visit http:\/\/www.ball.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n 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 http:\/\/www.sec.gov<\/a>. 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. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Excerpt from:<\/p>\n Ball Aerospace Wins U.S. Air Force Risk Reduction Contract for Weather Satellite Follow-on<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BOULDER, Colo., April 12, 2013 \/PRNewswire\/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. 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