AEROSPACE INDUSTRY FORECAST
UPDATE
February 2013
McIlvaine Company
Ball Aerospace Completes Manufacturing Expansion
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has completed a satellite manufacturing center that more than doubles current spacecraft production capability. The 90,000 sq. ft. facility is designed to accommodate larger and more sophisticated satellites and simultaneous spacecraft builds to fulfill new NASA and the Department of Defense contracts for space-related assets.
The $75M capital investment includes expansion and improvements underway since 2005 at Ball's Fisher Integration Facility in Boulder, Colo., and comes on the heels of the opening of expanded facilities at the company’s manufacturing center in Westminster, Colo., in 2011.
The larger aerospace manufacturing complex in Boulder includes a 60 percent increase in cleanroom space, environmental testing systems, and build-out capacity for a larger thermal vacuum chamber to test spacecraft. These spacecraft include NASA's Joint Polar Satellite System, the WorldView-3 remote-sensing satellite for DigitalGlobe, the Sentinel Mission for the B612 Foundation, and multiple Department of Defense and national security missions. The facilities enable Ball to provide the full range of manufacturing, assembly, integration and test capabilities needed to be the industry’s partner for high-performance satellites and instruments.
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.
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