Ball Aerospace
Encyclopedia
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (commonly Ball Aerospace) is a manufacturer of spacecraft, components, and instruments for national defense, civil space and commercial space applications. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ball Corp.
Ball Corp.
Ball Corporation , originally Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company, is an American company famous for producing glass canning jars. Founded in 1880, it is currently headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company has expanded into other areas such as avionics, space systems, metal beverage...
(NYSE
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
: BLL), with primary offices in Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
and facilities in Broomfield
Broomfield, Colorado
The City and County of Broomfield is a prominent suburb and tier of the Denver metropolitan area in the State of Colorado of the United States. Broomfield has a consolidated city and county government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The...
and Westminster
Westminster, Colorado
Westminster is a Home Rule Municipality in Adams and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Westminster is a northwest suburb of Denver. The Westminster Municipal Center is located north-northwest of the Colorado State Capitol. The United States Census Bureau that the city population...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, with smaller offices in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Northern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and Maryland.
Ball Aerospace began building pointing controls for military rockets in 1956, and later won a contract to build one of NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
’s first spacecraft, the Orbiting Solar Observatory
Orbiting Solar Observatory
The Orbiting Solar Observatory Program was the name of a series of nine American science satellites primarily intended to study the Sun, though they also included important non-solar experiments. Eight were launched successfully by NASA between 1962 and 1975 using Delta rockets...
. Over the years, the company has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific projects and continues to provide aerospace technology to NASA and related industries.
Ball Aerospace also has many other products and services for the aerospace industry, including lubricants, optical systems, star trackers and antennas. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ball Corp., Ball Aerospace was cited in 2005 as the 99th largest defense contractor in the world. Both parent and subsidiary headquarters are co-located in Broomfield, Colorado.
Current
- The Orbital ExpressOrbital Expressthumb|Orbital Express: ASTRO and NEXTSatOrbital Express was a space mission managed by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and a team led by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center...
autonomous satellite servicing mission - The Kepler Space Observatory satellite to search for habitable planets
- The James Webb Space TelescopeJames Webb Space TelescopeThe James Webb Space Telescope , previously known as Next Generation Space Telescope , is a planned next-generation space telescope, optimized for observations in the infrared. The main technical features are a large and very cold 6.5 meter diameter mirror, an observing position far from Earth,...
(JWST) to study the formation of the earliest stars in the universe. - The Wide-field Infrared Survey ExplorerWide-field Infrared Survey ExplorerWide-field Infrared Survey Explorer is a NASA infrared-wavelength astronomical space telescope launched on December 14, 2009, and decommissioned/hibernated on February 17, 2011 when its transmitter was turned off...
(WISE) Program, which, over a seven-month mission in a polar orbit will map the entire sky in multiple mid-far infrared wavelengths. This crucial mission may find close and cool objects to our sun never before detected. It will also act as a predecessor to the JWST Program. - The WorldView-2WorldView-2WorldView-2 is a commercial Earth observation satellite owned by DigitalGlobe. WorldView-2 provides commercially available panchromatic imagery of .5 m resolution, and eight-band multispectral imagery with resolution....
earth observation satelliteEarth observation satelliteEarth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed to observe Earth from orbit, similar to reconnaissance satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc....
. - The OpticksOpticks (software)Opticks is an open source, remote sensing application that supports imagery, video , Synthetic Aperture Radar , multi-spectral, hyper-spectral, and other types of remote sensing data. Opticks is unlike other remote sensing applications because it treats imagery and video alike...
remote sensing data visualization application.
Historical
- DigitalGlobeDigitalGlobeDigitalGlobe, of Longmont, Colorado, USA, is a commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content, and operator of civilian remote sensing spacecraft...
's remote sensing spacecraft: QuickBirdQuickBirdQuickBird is a high-resolution commercial earth observation satellite, owned by DigitalGlobe and launched in 2001 as the first satellite in a constellation of three scheduled to be in orbit by 2008...
(with Orbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
), WorldView-1WorldView-1WorldView-1 is a commercial earth observation satellite owned by DigitalGlobe. It was launched September 18, 2007, and DigitalGlobe plans to launch another, similar satellite after its construction is finished in late 2008...
, and WorldView-2WorldView-2WorldView-2 is a commercial Earth observation satellite owned by DigitalGlobe. WorldView-2 provides commercially available panchromatic imagery of .5 m resolution, and eight-band multispectral imagery with resolution.... - The instrumentation for the Spitzer Space TelescopeSpitzer Space TelescopeThe Spitzer Space Telescope , formerly the Space Infrared Telescope Facility is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003...
. Ball Aerospace developed the Cryogenic Telescope Assembly (CTA) and two of the three science instruments: the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS). - Instrument packages for the Hubble Telescope, including the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), all which were installed on the observatory during the Space ShuttleSpace ShuttleThe Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
mission STS-125STS-125STS-125, or HST-SM4 , was the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope .Launch occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT...
in 2009. After the servicing mission was completed, all of Hubble's scientific instruments are of Ball Aerospace manufacture. - AEROSAEROS (satellite)AEROS satellites were to study the aeronomy i. e. the science of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, in particular the F region under the strong influence of solar extreme ultraviolet radiation...
- CALIPSOCALIPSOCALIPSO is a joint NASA and CNES environmental satellite, built in the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, which was launched atop a Delta II rocket on April 28, 2006. Its name stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations...
, a joint NASA and CNESCNESThe is the French government space agency . Established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961, its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research...
environmental spacecraft - CloudSatCloudSatCloudSat is a NASA Earth observation satellite, which was launched on a Delta II rocket on 28 April 2006. It uses radar to measure the altitude and properties of clouds, adding to information on the relationship between clouds and climate in order to help resolve questions about global warming...
, a NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Earth observation spacecraft - Deep Impact spacecraft. Ball Aerospace designed and built the spacecraft and all of its instrument packages for NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
. - Star trackers for NASA's Space Shuttle programSpace Shuttle programNASA's Space Shuttle program, officially called Space Transportation System , was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011...
- The Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance OrbiterMars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
(MRO) HiRISEHiRISEHigh Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The 65 kg , $40 million instrument was built under the direction of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp....
camera - Joint Strike FighterF-35 Lightning IIThe Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
(JSF) conformal antennas - High-Gain Antenna Gimbal (HGAG) and the Panoramic-camera Mast Assembly (PMA) for the Mars Exploration RoverMars Exploration RoverNASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...
- Orbiting Solar ObservatoryOrbiting Solar ObservatoryThe Orbiting Solar Observatory Program was the name of a series of nine American science satellites primarily intended to study the Sun, though they also included important non-solar experiments. Eight were launched successfully by NASA between 1962 and 1975 using Delta rockets...
(OSO) - Infrared Astronomical SatelliteIRASThe Infrared Astronomical Satellite was the first-ever space-based observatory to perform a survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths....
(IRAS). Ball Aerospace developed and built the cryogenicallyCryogenicsIn physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...
cooled telescopeReflecting telescopeA reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
, dewarVacuum flaskA vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel which keeps its contents hotter or cooler than its surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck...
and sunshade - The Mast Mounted Sight for the OH-58D Kiowa helicopter
- SBUV/2SBUV/2Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet RadiometerThe Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer, or SBUV/2, is a series of operational remote sensors on NOAA weather satellites which monitor the density and distribution of ozone in the Earth’s atmosphere from six to 30 miles. SBUV/2 looks down at the Earth’s...
Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer