Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. announced today the successful delivery of the NextSat Commodities Spacecraft (NextSat/CSC) to The Boeing Company's Orbital Express (OE) program for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Scheduled to launch late this year, OE is designed to demonstrate technological readiness of autonomous satellite servicing.
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"On-schedule delivery of the next-generation OE spacecraft furthers the development of robotic refueling, configuration and repair of spacecraft on orbit," said David L. Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Ball Aerospace. "Ball Aerospace is proud to contribute to innovative technologies and program performance that advance new missions and new capabilities for our nation's defense."
The satellite demonstration mission is set to conduct the first autonomous component exchange and first U.S. refueling, as well as autonomous rendezvous and docking. The dual-satellite mission includes the Autonomous Space Transfer and Robotic Orbiter, or ASTRO, built by the The Boeing Company, and NextSat/CSC, launched in a "stacked" or mated flight configuration. The two spacecraft are designed to transfer between them spacecraft fuel and an Orbital Replacement Unit containing a back-up battery. Later in the three-month mission, the two spacecraft are scheduled to separate and demonstrate a rendezvous and capture sequence. The NextSat/CSC has a dual role in the Orbital Express mission. It will emulate the 'client' spacecraft needing service, and as the 'commodities' spacecraft. In an active spacecraft constellation the commodities spacecraft would be an orbiting depot storing fuel and replacement or upgraded spacecraft components.
The NextSat spacecraft bus design is based on the Ball Aerospace-built Impactor spacecraft for the Deep Impact program that successfully fulfilled its mission by colliding with comet Tempel 1 in 2005. The Impactor was able to autonomously steer itself into the path of comet Tempel 1 last year, using similar technologies that the NextSat/CSC spacecraft bus will use to demonstrate rendezvous and capture sequences during its mission.
Ball Aerospace is celebrating its 50th year in business in 2006. The company began building pointing controls for military rockets in 1956, and later won a contract to build one of NASA's first spacecraft, the Orbiting Solar Observatory. Over the years, the company has been responsible for numerous technological and scientific 'firsts' and now acts as a technology innovator for important national missions.
Ball Corporation
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SOURCE: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
CONTACT: Roz Brown of Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.,
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