Orbital Sciences Corporation: Big Leap for Small and Medium Spacecrafts and Rockets

Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company that designs, manufactures and launches small and medium-class spacecrafts and rockets systems. Its products are used by commercial as well as civil governments and military forces. It is based in Dulles, Virginia. Its stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

Among the leading products of Orbital are satellites and launch vehicles. Among these products are the geosynchronous-Earth orbit and low-Earth orbit, including planetary spacecrafts used for scientific and defense missions, remote sensing and communications. Orbital also produces both ground-launched and air-launched rockets that send satellites into orbit; and missile defense systems that intercept or target vehicles.

David Thompson, Bruce Ferguson and Scott Webster were students at Harvard Business School when they founded Orbital in 1982. Three years into its operations, Orbital procured its first major contract: the supply of four Transfer Orbital Stage vehicles for NASA which planted the seeds for the ORBCOMM constellation.