Ball Aerospace
Participates in TSAT Space Segment Design Review
(21 June 2007) Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corp., a team-mate on the Boeing led-Transformational Satellite
Communications (TSAT) Space Segment program, today announced successful
completion of the program's Space Segment Design Review
(SSDR).
The review represented a significant milestone for the
Boeing team, which was awarded a TSAT Risk Reduction and System Definition
contract in January 2004. TSAT will provide the Department of Defense (DoD)
with high data rate military satellite communications and Internet-like
services as defined in the Transformational Communications Architecture (TCA).
TSAT offers greatly improved connectivity, data transfer capability and
situational awareness for the warfighter that will increase the precision and
effectiveness of military operations far beyond present capacity. Furthermore,
TSAT will enable high data rate connectivity for space and airborne
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.
Ball Aerospace
is pursuing the space segment of TSAT, with Boeing as the prime contractor, by
developing the Space Telescope Subsystem (STS). The STS sub-system includes a
gimbaled telescope and sophisticated optical bench that relies on Ball's proven
Pointing, Acquisition and Tracking (PAT) technology.
"The dynamic
partnership forged by Ball Aerospace and Boeing for the past 30 years, starting
in 1976 with the Airborne Flight Test System, has allowed us to develop
solutions to bring free-space laser communication to an operational status,"
said Ball Aerospace President and CEO, David L. Taylor. "Ball's laser
communications activities bridge all optical segments of the
TCA."
Earlier this year, Boeing and its partners became the first team
to successfully demonstrate the ability of its TSAT system to deliver
operational data rates at high power operations during U.S. Air Force tests.
The tests validated a total system performance to - and interoperability with -
government laser communications standards by completing communications
performance and pointing, acquisition and tracking tests for 2.5, 10 and 40
gigabits per second data rates. The demonstration also verified Ball's PAT
technology to be consistent with the Lasercom Interoperability Standard, which
fulfils another risk reduction objective for TSAT.
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. Over the past 50 years,
Ball Aerospace has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific
'firsts' and acts as a technology innovator for the aerospace
market.
Ball Corporation is a supplier of high-quality metal and plastic
packaging products for beverage, food and household 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 world-wide and
reported 2006 sales of US$ 6.6 billion.
(source: Ball Aerospace and
Technologies)