In the midst of the cold war between the U.S. and Soviet Union, one of the nation’s largest aluminum beverage companies saw an opportunity in Colorado: space technology.

Nearly 70 years later, Westminster-based Ball Corp. sold its aerospace division for $5.55 billion.

UK-based defense manufacturer BAE Systems bought Ball Aerospace and renamed it to Space and Mission Systems, the company announced. The deal closed on Friday after regulatory approval.

Under the new parent company, the aerospace division headquartered in Broomfield that helped make NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope look more than 13 billion years back into the universe aims to not only stay put in Colorado but grow its presence in the area, former Ball Aerospace president Dave Kaufman told reporters on Tuesday.

“We’re going to get to be better as part of an aerospace and defense giant,” Kaufman said, “rather than a little aerospace and defense company that’s part of a packaging company.”

Why did Ball sell?

Ball — the company behind mason jars and soda cans — spent decades investing in its Colorado space facilities and workforce.

“The acquisition was acquiring that investment,” Kaufman said. The former Ball Aerospace president will continue leading the division as the head of the Space and Mission Systems.

Ball decided to sell the aerospace division to have more financial flexibility and focus on its core business in aluminum packaging, the company announced in August.

Meanwhile, BAE Systems is tapping into rising needs for space technology within America’s defense and intelligence agencies — and to do it in Colorado.

‘“BAE systems was looking to get into space in a big way,” Kaufman said, “and being a part of Colorado is huge.”

BAE Systems had a small “handful” of employees in the state throughout Colorado Springs and Aurora, Kaufman said. The acquisition of Ball Aerospace, which has 5,200 employees and more than 40 facilities, vastly boosts its U.S. presence in the industry by being in the nation’s second-largest aerospace economy.

Former Ball Aerospace sees chances to grow under new ownership

One of the opportunities for growth is collaborating on different kinds of space technology, Kaufman said. The former Ball Aerospace has expertise in remote sensing from space while BAE Systems specializes more in radiofrequency.

The scientific collaboration could help the company expand its customers and win larger contracts, Kaufman said.

And with BAE Systems’ connections in Europe, Asia and Australia, Kaufman added that the former Ball Aerospace company has a large opportunity for more international business.

The Space and Mission Systems will continue working on projects the former Ball Aerospace has been working on.

As soon as next month, the company is set to launch a methane-monitoring satellite that could help detect sources of methane for non-profit advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund. Another project, a Space Force satellite to monitor weather patterns for Naval mission planning, is months away from going into low Earth orbit, Kaufman said.

“We believe BAE Systems and Ball Aerospace share a culture of mission-driven innovation and operational excellence,” BAE Systems CEO Tom Arseneault stated when the acquisition was announced last summer. “We look forward to sustaining the historic legacy of Ball Aerospace and investing in its future.”