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Company type | Public |
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NYSE: ORB | |
Industry | Space, Defense |
Founded | 1982Vienna, Virginia | in
Founders | David W. Thompson Bruce W. Ferguson Scott L. Webster |
Defunct | 9 February 2015 |
Fate | Merged with Alliant Techsystems to form Orbital ATK |
Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | David W. Thompson (Chairman, President and CEO) |
Revenue | ![]() |
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Total assets | ![]() |
Total equity | ![]() |
Number of employees | 3,300 (2013) |
Website | orbital |
Footnotes / references Financials as of December 31, 2013[update] (final fiscal year end) References:[1] |
Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other government customers. In 2014, Orbital merged with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to create a new company called Orbital ATK, which in turn was purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2018.
Orbital was headquartered in Dulles, Virginia and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol ORB. Orbital's primary products were satellites and launch vehicles, including low Earth orbit (LEO), geosynchronous Earth orbit and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing, scientific and defense missions; ground- and air-launched launch vehicles that delivered satellites into orbit; missile defense systems that were used as interceptor and target vehicles; and human-rated space systems for Earth orbit, lunar and other missions. Orbital also provided satellite subsystems and space-related technical services to government agencies and laboratories.[2]
On 29 April 2014, Orbital Sciences announced that it would merge with Alliant Techsystems to create a new company called Orbital ATK.[3] The merger was completed on 9 February 2015 and Orbital Sciences ceased to exist as an independent entity.[4]
On 18 September 2017, Northrop Grumman announced plans to purchase Orbital ATK for US$7.8 billion in cash plus assumption of US$1.4 billion in debt,[5][6] and on 6 June 2018, the acquisition was completed, and Orbital ATK became Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.[7][8] As of 1 January 2020, the name was changed to Space Systems under a large restructuring and rebranding initiative.