BOULDER - Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. president and chief executive David Taylor is retiring, Ball Corp. announced Monday.

Taylor, CEO since 2002, will be replaced by Robert Strain, currently Ball Aerospace's chief operating officer, the company said in a press release. Taylor will leave the company at the end of March.

Taylor has spent 29 years at Ball Aerospace, which is based in Boulder. Ball Aerospace designs and builds spacecraft, instruments for satellites and military technologies such as antennas. The company is owned by Broomfield-based Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL).

"It has been an honor to lead Ball Aerospace. I'm extremely proud of what our employees have accomplished during the past 10 years. We have significantly grown our business and entered new markets. I know I'm leaving Ball Aerospace in good hands with Rob Strain at the helm," Taylor said in an email statement to the Business Report.

During Taylor's tenure, Ball Aerospace's annual sales have climbed from $491 million to $876 million, according to spokeswoman Roz Brown. The company also launched a $75 million construction and facility upgrade campaign. It has more than 2,800 employees.

"Dave Taylor led a transformation of our aerospace business into an agile, high-performing aerospace and defense enterprise, guiding its entry into new customer agencies and growing our aerospace segment sales and profits significantly since 2002," said John A. Hayes, president and chief executive of Ball Corp. "This business has played an important role in Ball Corp.'s success over the past decade, and we thank Dave for his vision and leadership and wish him well in retirement."

Strain, 56, has been Ball Aerospace COO since March. His experience with the company should ensure an orderly transition, Ball Corp. spokesman Scott McCarty said.

Strain will focus on continuing the growth of Ball Aerospace and solidifying the market gains achieved during Taylor's tenure, the release said.

As COO, Strain oversaw Ball Aerospace's operations and managing its four strategic business units: Civil Space and Technology; Operational Space; Tactical Solutions; National Defense, and Systems Engineering Solutions, according to the biography on the corporate website. He also led support functions responsible for executing company programs, including engineering, program execution, mission assurance and information technology.

Strain has served as director of NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and has held leadership roles at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, Orbital Sciences Corp. and Fairchild Space and Defense, according to the release.

"Rob Strain's extensive experience in the private, public and academic sectors and his strong record of managing programs and cultivating relationships will be key to continuing our tremendous growth trajectory and helping us achieve our 'Drive for 10' vision," Hayes said in the release.