Ball Aerospace has been honored by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) with the 2020 Award for Outstanding Services by a Corporation “for designing and building proven advanced remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft enabling timely, accurate weather predictions and environmental monitoring to ensure a Weather Ready Nation.”
Rob Strain, President, stated the company is proud to be recognized by the American Meteorological Society as an industry leader in the development of advanced spacecraft and remote sensing instruments for weather and environmental science. Understanding the science behind the company's sensors requires close engagement with the scientific community, and AMS has been a longstanding partner in convening experts from across industry and academia to jointly advance weather, water and climate sciences.
The award will be presented as part of the 100th AMS Annual Meeting on January 12, 2020 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
AMS President Professor Jenni Evans noted that Ball Aerospace instrumentation and spacecraft have supported science and services in the atmospheric and related sciences, and many individuals at Ball have given generously of their time and talent through volunteer service in scientific organizations like AMS. Thought leadership and service from Ball and its people, including as underwriters of the AMS Policy Program, has enriched the meteorology community in many ways.”
Ball designs and develops advanced operational weather systems for civil and military customers. As a mission partner to NASA, NOAA and the Department of Defense (DoD), Ball plays a leading role in executing on programs that fill critical weather data gaps, including the Ball-built Suomi-NPP (National Polar Partnership) satellite and the JPSS-1 satellite, now NOAA-20, which are performing flawlessly on orbit. Both satellites have provided crucial global data of the atmosphere, ocean and land surface for the Nation’s weather forecasting systems since their launches in 2011 and 2018, respectively.
In addition, Ball designed and is currently developing the next generation environmental satellite for the U.S. Air Force, the Weather System Follow-on (WSF), which will address six validated environmental monitoring gaps for the Department of Defense, including ocean surface winds, tropical cyclone intensity and sea ice characterization. Ball was also selected by NASA and NOAA to build the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) instruments for the follow-on JPSS-2, JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 missions, which will continue a decades long data record used to monitor the health of the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer, while also providing critical input to ultraviolet (UV) index forecasts from the National Weather Service.
Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectation and protect what matters most. The firm creates innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely.