Orbital Sciences has announced that it has completed the acquisition of a Gilbert, AZ-based, spacecraft development and manufacturing business from General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a subsidiary of General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD - News).

With the formal closing of the acquisition, Orbital welcomed to its workforce approximately 325 new employees, most of whom are engineers, technicians and program managers, many with security clearances for sensitive U.S. Government programs.

Orbital has also acquired a state-of-the-art 135,000-square-foot space systems manufacturing, integration and test facility that is one of the most modern and capable in the world, providing the company with additional satellite manufacturing capacity to accommodate anticipated growth for many years to come.

"We are very excited to welcome a great team of highly qualified and experienced satellite professionals to the Orbital family," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"With the addition of important new strategic customer relationships, a broad range of complementary satellite products and engineering capabilities, and a state-of-the-art production facility, we have significantly strengthened our competitive position in the defense and intelligence, civil government and commercial satellite markets."

The acquisition is expected to enhance Orbital's already-established position in the growing market for national security space systems, including spacecraft used in intelligence and surveillance, missile tracking, space situational awareness, space weather monitoring and other operational defense missions.

The combination will also substantially strengthen the company's capabilities to design and manufacture Earth science, weather and climate monitoring, and space-based astronomy satellite systems.

"By combining Orbital's experience building industry-leading small low-orbit and geosynchronous satellites with General Dynamics/Spectrum Astro's work on advanced medium-class spacecraft, our company has now produced, or is currently developing, 148 satellites for over 35 separate customers in the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community, civil government agencies such as NASA and NOAA, and commercial communications and imaging satellite operators," Mr. Thompson added.

In the 30-year period from 1982, when Orbital was founded, through 2012, by which time spacecraft under current design and production will be delivered, the company and its predecessor businesses will have developed and built 75 commercial satellites, 37 national security spacecraft, and 36 civil government satellites. Of these 148 total spacecraft, 114 are low-orbit satellites, 31 are geosynchronous satellites and 3 are deep-space probes.