Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., commonly Ball Aerospace, was an American manufacturer of spacecraft, components and instruments for national defense, civil space and commercial space applications.
Until 2024, the firm was a wholly owned subsidiary of
Ball Corporation, with primary offices in
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...
, and facilities in
Broomfield and
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
in
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, with smaller offices in
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
,
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, northern
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
and
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. It was acquired by
BAE Systems Inc. in 2024, and is operated as a new division within BAE called Space & Mission systems.
History
Ball Aerospace began building pointing controls for military rockets in 1956. The aerospace part of the Ball Corporation was then known as Ball Brothers Research Corporation, and later won a contract to build some of
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
's first spacecraft, the
Orbiting Solar Observatory satellites. The company has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific projects and continues to provide aerospace technology to NASA and related industries.
Other products and services for the aerospace industry include lubricants, optical systems,
star trackers and antennas. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ball Corporation, Ball Aerospace was cited in 2023 as the 54th largest defense contractor in the world. Both parent and subsidiary headquarters are co-located in Broomfield, Colorado.
In August 2023, Ball Corporation agreed to divest Ball Aerospace to
BAE Systems Inc. for $5.6 billion in cash. On February 14, 2024 The companies announced that all regulatory approvals were in place to allow the deal to complete. The deal was closed on February 16, 2024.
Participating projects
* The
Orbital Express autonomous satellite servicing mission
* The
WorldView-2 Earth observation satellite.
*
AEROS (satellite)[p.12 AEROS]
*
Ralph (''New Horizons'' instrument)
*
Chandra X-ray Observatory aspect camera (star tracker) and SIM (science instrument module)
*
Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...
: seven science instruments (
COS,
WFC3,
ACS,
NICMOS,
STIS,
COSTAR, and
GHRS), two star trackers, five major equipment subsystems, and custom tools to support service missions
*
James Webb Space Telescope optical mirror system
*
Kepler space telescope
See also
*
Ball Corporation
References
External links
Ball Aerospace website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball Aerospace
Ball Corporation
Aerospace companies of the United States
Defense companies of the United States
Spacecraft manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in Colorado
Companies based in Boulder, Colorado
Companies based in Broomfield, Colorado
Manufacturing companies established in 1956
1956 establishments in Colorado
Science and technology in Colorado
American companies established in 1956
2024 mergers and acquisitions