Ball Aerospace Delivering QuickBird 1 Remote-Sensing Satellite to EarthWatch.Business Editors BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2000 Two Colorado companies working together are advancing the remote-sensing market for commercial customers. By the end of October, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., is scheduled to deliver its first of two QuickBird remote-sensing satellites to EarthWatch Incorporated of Longmont, Colo. QuickBird 1 is capable of taking one-meter panchromatic pan·chro·mat·ic adj. Sensitive to all colors: panchromatic film. pan·chro  ma·tism n. (black and white) and four-meter multispectral (color) digital images of Earth's surface. Earth remote sensing Earth remote sensing is data collection on the environment, geology, climate, and other characteristics of the Earth by means of sensors positioned in the air or in Earth orbit. Sensors used for this type of data gathering include those covering all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. involves detecting and recording objects or phenomena from a distance by using devices that take measurements of the electromagnetic spectrum electromagnetic spectrum Total range of frequencies or wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. The spectrum ranges from waves of long wavelength (low frequency) to those of short wavelength (high frequency); it comprises, in order of increasing frequency (or decreasing to characterize the landscape. In the case of QuickBird 1, the satellite will circle the globe 600 km (about 372 miles) above Earth while the QuickBird sensor (a high-resolution camera) gathers images of the Earth's surface during daylight hours. Satellite remote sensing can provide enormous amounts of data that covers large areas in a cost-effective manner, typically less expensive than comparable aerial photographic images. Additionally, satellite imagery is in a digital format for immediate transfer to computer database systems. The Ball Aerospace-built QuickBird 1 uses the Ball Global Imaging System 2000 satellite design. This system comprises the Ball Commercial Platform 2000 (BCP BCP Best Current Practice(s) BCP Business Continuity Planning BCP Business Continuity Plan BCP Book of Common Prayer BCP Banco Comercial Português BCP Bureau of Consumer Protection (US Federal Trade Commission) 2000) spacecraft bus and a Ball High Resolution Camera (BHRC BHRC Bar Human Rights Committee (of England and Wales) BHRC Building and Housing Research Center (Iran) 60). The BCP 2000 buses are part of Ball Aerospace's product assembly line that includes three additional units: the Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) built for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. and Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. , which is gaining praise for tracking weather disturbances that aid hurricane forecasters; Goddard's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat); and QuickBird 2. "QuickBird 1 represents a tremendous achievement for both Ball Aerospace and EarthWatch," said David L. Taylor, vice president of Ball's Commercial Space Operations. "As a team, Ball Aerospace and EarthWatch have worked hard to meet customers' growing needs for world-class images and services. The potential for the commercial remote-sensing market is huge, and we aim to develop and maintain a very strong foothold in this developing business. These two QuickBirds are Ball Aerospace's first commercial spacecraft built for a non-government customer from our family of commercial products." The QuickBird 1 satellite will collect data while in a 66-degree orbit, which allows variable imaging at any time during the day. QuickBird 2 will be launched into a sun-synchronous orbit, providing same time of day passes and consistent revisit scheduling for easy monitoring of long-term trends. Once in operation, the two QuickBirds will provide a constellation with imaging coverage and flexibility unequaled in the remote-sensing industry. In addition to the spacecraft bus and high-resolution camera, Ball Aerospace will provide launch support and on-orbit commissioning support for the two QuickBirds. Demand for high-resolution satellite imagery near term is estimated to be more than $1 billion annually. QuickBird 1 images have multiple market applications for commercial businesses and government agencies, including environmental monitoring, land use and public works, mapping and cartography cartography: see map. cartography or mapmaking Art and science of representing a geographic area graphically, usually by means of a map or chart. Political, cultural, or other nongeographic features may be superimposed. , resource management, agriculture and forestry, and military target identification. QuickBird 1 is slated for launch on a Russian Cosmos rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. provides imaging and communications products for commercial and government customers worldwide and is a subsidiary of Ball Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :BLL BLL Blood Lead Level BLL Bovis Lend Lease BLL Business Logic Layer BLL Buraku Liberation League (Japan) BLL Billund, Denmark - Billund (Airport Code) BLL Base Locator for Linkage ), a Fortune 500 company which had sales of $3.6 billion in 1999. Forward-Looking Statements Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. (BATC BATC Babson Alumni Technology Council (Massachusetts) BATC Builders Association of the Twin Cities BATC Business & Advanced Technology Centre (Malaysia) BATC Business & Advanced Technology Centre ) is a subsidiary of Ball Corporation. Certain forward-looking statements have been made or implied in this news release. These forward-looking statements represent the company's goals and are based on certain assumptions and estimates that involve a number of risks or uncertainties. Some factors that could cause the company's actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include risk factors listed in Ball Corporation's Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. filed on May 17, 2000. If the company's assumptions and estimates are incorrect, or if it is unable to achieve its goals, then the company's actual performance could vary materially from those goals expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Note to Editors: Electronic images available at: http://www.ball.com/aerospace/media/qbird.html |
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