Ball Aerospace

Ball Aerospace, now part of BAE Systems' Space & Mission Systems division following the $5.6 billion acquisition completed in February 2024, is a leading provider of advanced satellites, space telescopes, and defense systems. The company delivers intelligence gathering, missile defense, and electronic warfare capabilities for national security and civil space missions.

Ball Aerospace shipped the Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M) satellite to Vandenberg Space Force Base for launch in early 2024. As the first of two operational environmental satellites for Space Systems Command, WSF-M will dramatically improve space-based weather monitoring for the Department of Defense, using Ball's Microwave Imager to capture real-time data on sea ice, surface winds, tropical cyclone intensity, snow depth, and soil moisture.

The company completed assembly of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's Wide Field Instrument with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The WFI camera system will capture images at Hubble resolution but with a field of view at least 100 times greater, enabling discovery of exoplanets and advancing understanding of dark matter and dark energy. Roman Space Telescope is expected to launch no later than May 2027.

Ball Aerospace's heritage includes nearly 60 years of NASA partnership, contributing to all Great Observatories, seven Hubble Space Telescope science instruments, and the advanced optical technology and lightweight mirror system for the James Webb Space Telescope. Under BAE Systems ownership, the company continues advancing space systems for defense, intelligence, and scientific exploration missions.