Dulles-based aerospace and defense company Orbital Sciences Corporation is expanding its campus with four new buildings, and plans to hire about 500 to 600 additional employees over the next three or four years.
Increasingcommercial and defense demand for the company’s small-sized satellites, and the company’s development of a safety system for the new NASA human space flight program, is driving the need for the additional facilities and employees, said Barron Beneski, vice president of corporate communications. The company, which was established in 1982, has doubled revenues in the past five to six years, from about $500 million to $1 billion this year, said Beneski.
Orbital Sciences has already outgrown the Dulles campus. Right now, there are four buildings, and two additional sites that are leased, housing some 1,500 employees, up from 1,000 just three years ago, said Beneski. The new buildings will be built near the main campus on the company’s 77-acre property.
Three of the four new buildings will be “virtually identical,” according to Beneski, with offices, conference rooms, lab space, and engineering centers. Another building that is being contemplated would be a manufacturing facility primarily for the satellites.
Construction commencement on the first building is expected next year, and completion is projected for 2009. It will house roughly 150 mainly program-related employees, including engineers and design technicians.
Even in the midst of a labor shortage in the metro area, Beneski said he doesn’t expect difficulty in finding highly skilled and specialized engineers to fill positions. The company engages in recruiting efforts in the industry, and also among top college engineering schools. Engineers in the aerospace and defense field can be attracted to this area because – compared with the major industry hub in California – living costs “look reasonable,” said Beneski.
“We are thrilled with the expansion,” said Dorri O’Brien Morin, manager of communications for the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development. “It has added hundreds of jobs … and it’s just the type of company we like to have,” because it’s part of the high technology sector and employs highly skilled, highly paid workers.
