Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been selected by NASA as a team member to develop the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). WISE is a four-channel, super-cooled infrared telescope designed to provide a full sky, infrared map that will help the James Web Space Telescope identify which objects to observe following its scheduled launch in 2010.

Under contract to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ball Aerospace will build the spacecraft and conduct mission operations for the WISE program. A final decision to proceed to flight development on WISE will be made in 2004, with a launch anticipated in 2008.

The Ball-built spacecraft will be based on the company's RS300 spacecraft, a family of small, low-cost remote-sensing buses. The spacecraft, which weighs less than 250 pounds, is an offshoot of Ball Aerospace's Deep Impact flight system. Ball Aerospace has also been selected to build the NEXTSat spacecraft for the Orbital Express Advanced Technology Program using the RS300.

"The WISE team has been working on the development of this mission for four years," said Joan Howard, WISE program manager for Ball Aerospace. "The telescope's ability to survey the entire sky, with 1,000 times more sensitivity than previous infrared missions, will provide information to astronomers and the public that will be used for decades to come."

WISE is part of NASA's Explorer Program designed to provide frequent, low-cost access to space for physics and astronomy missions with small to mid-sized spacecraft. In addition to Ball Aerospace, other team members include Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory, Rockwell International, Lockheed Martin, and SSG Corp. Dr. Edward Wright of the University of California, Los Angeles, is the Principal Investigator for WISE.

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. provides remote sensing systems and solutions to the aerospace and defense markets. It is a subsidiary of Ball Corporation which in addition to owning Ball Aerospace is one of the leading suppliers of metal and plastic packaging to the beverage and food industries. With the addition of Ball Packaging Europe, acquired in December 2002, Ball expects sales in 2003 of approximately $5.1 billion, $4.6 billion from its packaging segment and $500 million from its aerospace and technologies segment.

  http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/WISE

  Forward-Looking Statements:

The information in this news release contains "forward-looking" statements. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those expressed or implied. As time passes, the relevance and accuracy of forward- looking statements contained in this release may change. The Company currently does not intend to update any particular forward-looking statement except, as it deems necessary at quarterly or annual release of earnings. Please refer to the Form 10-K filed by Ball Corporation on March 27, 2003, for a summary of key risk factors that could affect actual results or outcomes. Factors that might affect the Packaging segments or business of the Company are: fluctuation in consumer and customer demand; competitive packaging material availability, pricing and substitution; the weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing yields; company and industry productive capacity and competitive activity; lack of productivity improvement or production cost reductions; regulatory action or laws, the German mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging legislation, such as recycling laws; availability and cost of raw materials, energy and transportation; the ability or inability to pass on to customers changes in these costs, particularly resin, steel and aluminum; pricing and ability or inability to sell scrap; and international business risks (including foreign exchange rates) particularly in the United States, Europe and in developing countries such as China and Brazil. Factors that may affect the Aerospace segment or business are: funding, authorization and availability of government contracts and the nature and continuation of those contracts; and technical uncertainty associated with Aerospace segment contracts. Factors that could affect the Company as a whole include those listed plus: successful and unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures and the integration activities associated therewith including the integration and operation of the business of Schmalbach-Lubeca AG, now known as Ball Packaging Europe; the inability to purchase the Company's common stock; regulatory action or laws including those related to corporate governance and financial reporting, regulations and standards, business consolidation investment costs and the net realizable value of assets associated with the Company's activities; goodwill impairment; changes in generally accepted accounting principles or their interpretation; litigation; antitrust, intellectual property, consumer and other issues; strikes; boycotts; increases in various employee benefits and labor costs, specifically pension, medical and health care costs incurred in the countries in which Ball has operations; rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; interest rates and level of company debt; terrorist activities, war or catastrophic events; and U.S. and foreign economic conditions.

SOURCE: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.