Boeing And Ball
Aerospace Achieve New Milestone For SBSS Program
(21 April 2008) The Space Based Space
Surveillance (SBSS) System Block 10 team, led by Boeing with Ball Aerospace and
Technologies Corp. providing the space vehicle, today announced completion of
the payload electronics, high-speed gimbal and testing of the space vehicle's
visible sensor, enabling the start of payload integration and
test.
The SBSS gimbal and visible sensor enable responsive
tasking as events in space warrant. The Boeing-provided onboard payload
computer performs immediate detection of space objects and provides future
capability for improved Block 10 performance. Boeing's architectural analysis
shows this combination of capabilities significantly improves space situational
awareness.
"With the completion of the visible sensor, gimbal and
payload electronics, 85 percent of the SBSS flight hardware is complete," said
Jeff Osterkamp, Ball Aerospace vice president for National Defense Solutions
and Program Management. "The integration of the milestones demonstrates the
team's ability to develop state-of-the-art systems."
Prior to
integration, the successful gimbal function test verified maximum slew rate,
acceleration and range-of-motion capabilities for the gimbal, a two-axis system
that rotates and points the 500-pound payload. The Ball Aerospace beryllium
yoke design enables the gimbal's agility and manoeuvrability. In recent months,
Ball also successfully completed assembly and acceptance testing of the
platform's propulsion subsystem.
"This is a big milestone for the SBSS
program and a leap in technology improvements in support of space situational
awareness," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager for Boeing
Space & Intelligence Systems. "The completion of this hardware and
associated software brings us closer to launch readiness."
The SBSS
program consists of a constellation of satellites that will further increase
capacity and timeliness of detecting and tracking orbiting space objects,
including potential future threats to the United States' space assets. The U.S.
Department of Defense will use data generated by the system to support
world-wide military operations.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
supports critical missions for the Department of Defense, NASA, the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other U.S. government and commercial
entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced
instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems and radio
frequency solutions for strategic, tactical and scientific applications. Ball
Corp. 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 Corp. and
its subsidiaries employ more than 15,500 people world-wide and reported 2007
sales of US$ 7.4 billion. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated
Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defence businesses
specialising in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions.
Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a US$ 32.1
billion business with 71,000 employees world-wide.
(source:
Boeing)
