The Company celebrated its first three decades in the space business on April 2nd, completing 30 years of operations since the enterprise's founding on April 2, 1982. At anniversary events at the company's Dulles, Virginia headquarters and at other sites in Arizona, California, Maryland and Virginia, Orbital executives thanked employees and customers for making possible the company's successes to date, and for providing exciting opportunities for future achievements. "Reflecting on our first 30 years in business, Orbital's Board of Directors and senior management team are deeply grateful to our customers for their confidence in our ability to carry out many of their critical space projects. We also want to offer our heartfelt thanks to the company's employees and their families, whose creativity, dedication and sacrifices allowed us to fulfill our customer commitments while also building a strong foundation for future growth," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
From modest beginnings in 1982, Orbital has grown to over 3,700 people and approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenues expected in 2012. During the last 30 years, the company has generated cumulative revenues of approximately $14.8 billion, providing over 65,000 person-years of high-technology employment for its workforce. Since its founding in 1982, the company has been among the space industry's most active developers and manufacturers of launch vehicles and satellite systems. Its operational accomplishments during the past 30 years have involved conceiving, designing and building 1,007 rockets and space systems. This total includes 810 launch vehicles, target and sounding rockets, satellites and other space systems completed and delivered to date, plus another 197 rockets, satellites and related systems currently under contracts with customer deliveries scheduled from 2012 to 2018.