Ball Aerospace Begins Integration of WorldView-2 Imaging Instrument

BOULDER and LONGMONT, Colo., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and DigitalGlobe announced today that Ball has begun the integration of the completed imaging instrument for the next-generation WorldView-2 commercial imaging satellite being built for DigitalGlobe. WorldView-2 will expand DigitalGlobe's collection capabilities by nearly one million square kilometers per day, enable intra-day revisits to a specific geographic area, and enhance DigitalGlobe's ability to collect up-to-date imagery for customer needs.

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When launched in the third quarter of 2009, WorldView-2 will expand DigitalGlobe's capabilities and product offerings by increasing collection rates and providing enhanced multi-spectral imagery. WorldView-2 will make DigitalGlobe the only commercial earth imagery provider with 8-band multi-spectral capability, which enables many more spectral applications through a more robust color palette for crisper color imagery products and services and enhanced analysis of the earth's surface. WorldView-2 will join the highly successful Ball-built predecessors on orbit, WorldView-1, launched in 2007, and QuickBird, in 2001.

"The excellent progress we're making on the WorldView-2 spacecraft results from our proven record with the BCP product line," said Ball Aerospace President and CEO, David L. Taylor. "When launched, WorldView-2's advanced Control Moment Gyros (CMGs), high collection capacity, and rich multispectral capabilities will provide DigitalGlobe's customers with precise mapping and change detection at unprecedented quantities and spectral qualities."

"We are pleased with the progress of WorldView-2 and are looking forward to making its impressive capabilities available to our commercial, civil government and defense and intelligence customers late next year," said Jill Smith, DigitalGlobe's president and CEO. "We have an existing constellation of sub-meter satellites that already provides almost one million square kilometers per day of collection capacity. The addition of WorldView-2 will significantly enhance our collection capacity, revisit rate and enable more world imagery products and services to more customers."

Integration of the WorldView-2 telescope, the integrated focal plane, and associated electronics will be followed by system performance and environmental testing. WorldView-2 was recently moved to Ball's new, state-of-the-art clean room and integration facility to accommodate the height of the integrated Ball Commercial Platform (BCP) 5000 spacecraft bus and WorldView-2 Instrument. The BCP 5000 spacecraft is designed to handle the next-generation optical and synthetic aperture radar remote sensing payloads and is currently meeting or exceeding all performance specifications on the WorldView-1 satellite. The high-performance BCP 5000 has a design life of more than seven years, and provides a platform with increased power, resolution, agility, target selection, flexibility, transmission capability and data storage.

All Ball Aerospace designed and built WorldView-2 flight boxes and engineering development units have been delivered to the program, including a precision temperature control electronics board. WorldView-2's advanced CMGs, currently demonstrating superb performance for WorldView-1, are also ready for integration. Ball Aerospace is under contract with DigitalGlobe to provide mission system engineering, design and manufacture of the spacecraft bus and integration of the instrument, EMI/EMC and environmental testing of the integrated satellite and on-orbit checkout.

About DigitalGlobe

Longmont, Colorado-based DigitalGlobe (http://www.digitalglobe.com) is a leading global content provider of high-resolution world imagery solutions. Sourced from our own advanced satellite constellation and aerial network, our imagery solutions deliver real world perspective to governments, businesses, technology developers and humanitarian associations worldwide. The company's imagery solutions consist of one of the world's largest image libraries, growing at a rate of up to 1 million square kilometers per day and distributed and accessed through online search and retrieval, production ready image layers, development tool-kits for internet enabled applications and devices, and software solutions for integration with GIS products and services. DigitalGlobe currently operates the highest-resolution commercial satellite constellation with QuickBird and the first of two next-generation satellites, WorldView-1. The company plans to launch its second next-generation satellite, WorldView-2, in the third quarter of 2009.

DigitalGlobe is a registered trademark of DigitalGlobe.

About Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

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. Since 1956, Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific 'firsts' and acts as a technology innovator for the aerospace market.

About Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic packaging products 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 15,500 people worldwide and reported 2007 sales of $7.4 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 product 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; competitive activity; failure to achieve anticipated productivity improvements or production cost reductions, including our beverage can end project; 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; changes in senior management, the current global credit squeeze, 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 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 Corporation; DigitalGlobe

Released September 3, 2008