Five years after its 1999 launch, the QuikScat (Quick Scatterometer) satellite built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. continues its outstanding performance in returning essential data for global climate monitoring.

QuikSCAT employs a variation of the Ball Commercial Platform 2000 (BCP 2000) bus, the first in a line of spacecraft with proven success and reliability. The BCP 2000 can accommodate Earth-sensing instrumentation that requires precision pointing control while maintaining the flexibility needed for rapid target selection.

"We're very gratified that QuikSCAT has exceeded its design life," said David L. Taylor, Ball Aerospace president and chief executive officer. "Our BCP 2000 has truly defined the niche for remote sensing platforms produced under commercial terms, making it the industry standard for cost, schedule and mission performance."

Originally designed for a two-year mission, QuikSCAT was delivered in only 11 months. Since that time, the BCP 2000 design has also been utilized for QuickBird I and QuickBird II. In the near future, the Ball Aerospace-built bus will be employed on the CloudSat satellite launch in 2005 and for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) in 2006. WorldView, scheduled to launch no later than 2006, will employ a larger Ball Aerospace spacecraft bus also based on the BCP 2000 design.

QuikSCAT measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over the Earth's oceans. In addition to the bus, Ball Aerospace provided launch interface systems, system integration and test and launch support, and continues to perform mission operations through a subcontract to the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

Earlier this year NASA announced that data from QuikSCAT has improved 2- to 5-day forecasts and weather warnings, resulting in economic savings and a reduction in weather-related loss of life, especially at sea.

Ball Corporation is a leading supplier of high-quality packaging products and innovative packaging solutions to the beverage and food industries. The company also owns Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which develops sensors, spacecraft, systems and components for government and commercial markets. Ball employs approximately 12,600 people worldwide and reported 2003 sales of $4.9 billion.

The information in this news release contains "forward-looking" statements and other statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key risks and uncertainties are summarized in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially in Exhibit 99.2 in the most recent Form 10-K. These filings are available at the company's website and at www.sec.gov. Factors that might affect the packaging segments of the company include fluctuation in consumer and customer demand; competitive packaging material availability, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; fruit, vegetable and fishing yields; industry productive capacity and competitive activity; lack of productivity improvement or production cost reductions; the German mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; availability and cost of raw materials, such as resin, steel and aluminum, and the ability to pass on to customers changes in these costs; changes in major customer contracts or the loss of a major customer; international business risks, such as foreign exchange rates and tax rates; and the effect of LIFO accounting on earnings. Factors that might affect the aerospace segment include: funding, authorization and availability of government contracts and the nature and continuation of those contracts; and technical uncertainty associated with segment contracts. Factors that could affect the company as a whole include those listed plus: successful and unsuccessful acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures and associated integration activities; regulatory action or laws including environmental and workplace safety; goodwill impairment; antitrust and other litigation; strikes; boycotts; increases in various employee benefits and labor costs; rates of return projected and earned on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; reduced cash flow; and interest rates affecting our debt.

SOURCE: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.