Internships

An internship with Orbital Sciences can be an incredibly rewarding experience, as well as a great way to jump-start your career. While interning at Orbital, you will have the opportunity to work side-by-side with some of the most knowledgeable and experienced experts in their respective fields. You'll enjoy the satisfaction of embracing real-world challenges while you gain valuable on-the-job experience.

Orbital interns are given real, hands-on work assignments involving cutting edge aerospace technology. In addition to practical experience, Orbital provides interns with competitive salaries, access to state-of-the-art equipment, training, travel reimbursement at the beginning and the end of their assignment, housing assistance, and the possibility of future employment.  There’s even an internship referral program that pays current or former interns cash if they refer a friend to Orbital and their friend is hired!

For a list of frequently asked questions about Orbital internships, click here

Orbital has offices located across the country, each with unique and challenging opportunities. To find out more about internships at each of our locations, please click on the links below.

Dulles, Virginia – Orbital’s Dulles, Virginia campus is home to the company’s headquarters.   In addition, it is home to the company’s Space Systems Group, Advanced Programs Group, as well as some of our Launch Systems Group engineering and program management functions.

The Space Systems Group designs and manufactures commercial communications satellites as well as spacecraft used for space science and technology demonstration missions.  Integration and testing of Orbital satellites occurs in the company’s state-of-the-art Satellite Manufacturing Facility on campus.

Our Advanced Programs Group (APG) develops human-rated space systems for NASA programs, new launch vehicle technologies, and satellites and other systems used for national security space programs. 

The Dulles Launch Systems Group (LSG) is the home to the Pegasus and Taurus space launch vehicle programs as well as the systems engineering teams for two of the company’s largest missile defense programs: the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program, and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program.

Greenbelt , Maryland – Orbital’s Technical Services Division (TSD) provides cost-effective engineering, production and technical management expertise for space-related science and defense programs. TSD supplies engineers, scientists, technicians and other professionals with specific knowledge in the areas that our customers are pursuing. These Orbital employees often work side-by-side with our customers’ technical staff at their facilities.

Chandler, Arizona – Orbital’s Chandler, Arizona facility is home to the majority of Orbital’s Launch Systems Group where engineering, design, testing, and manufacturing of the company’s launch vehicles is performed. Chandler LSG programs include Pegasus and the family of Minotaur space launch vehicles. The majority of engineering and testing for Orbital’s missile defense interceptor and target vehicle programs occurs at the Chandler campus.

Interns at Chandler have been tasked with projects such as project design reviews, fatigue analysis, program development (including the creation of test software), manufacturing support, test preparation and organization, and creating qualification matrices.

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California – The Vandenberg AFB, California facility is part of Orbital's Launch Systems Group, and is where final system integration and test activities are conducted for various orbital and sub-orbital launch vehicles. Vandenberg also serves as one of Orbital's primary launch sites.

Orbital interns at Vandenberg have been tasked with many diverse projects such as designing/procuring material for a motor tie down system to secure rocket motors to integration dollies, assisting with the preparation of integration and test procedures, and working closely with mentor Engineers to complete work packages for the Pegasus program.