Space Instruments and EO Sensors

Ball Aerospace (acquired by BAE Systems in 2023 and now known as BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems) is one of America’s preeminent space instrument manufacturers, responsible for some of the most important scientific and Earth observation instruments ever flown in space. Ball’s instrument business specializes in electro-optical sensors, focal plane arrays, optical telescopes, and cryogenic instruments for government and commercial customers.

Ball manufactured the Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement (COSTAR) installed on Hubble Space Telescope during the STS-61 servicing mission in 1993, restoring Hubble’s vision after the original mirror was found to be incorrectly polished. Ball also manufactured the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 installed on Hubble in later servicing missions.

For the James Webb Space Telescope, Ball manufactured the NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) — JWST’s primary science instrument — and the FGS (Fine Guidance Sensor). Ball’s VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) is the primary sensor on NOAA’s Suomi NPP and JPSS weather satellites, providing global daily imaging in 22 spectral bands. The company is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.