Orbital Sciences Corp. COO Resigns to Focus on the Development of the Taurus-II Booster

Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. says President and Chief Operating Officer James Thompson Jr. will resign from those positions, though he will remain on the company’s board and serve as a senior executive adviser, reports The Washington Business Journal.

Thompson, who joined Orbital Sciences in 1991, will devote his time to overseeing the final development and testing phase of the Taurus II launch vehicle program, Orbital said in a regulatory filing.

Chairman and Chief Executive David Thompson will assume the role of president. The company did not immediately say if or when it would fill the chief operating officer position.

The Taurus II will have its first launch in the fall of this year from the commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport operated by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority at NASA’s new Wallops Island facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Orbital is under contract with NASA for supply missions to the International Space Station.