Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that Lt. Gen. Michael A. Hamel (U.S. Air Force, retired) has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development. Mr. Hamel will be responsible for leading selected strategic initiatives in the company’s current markets and in adjacent areas, and for assessing new technology and product development plans supporting future growth. In this new position, he will be a member of the company’s senior executive staff and based at Orbital’s Dulles, VA headquarters outside Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining Orbital, Mr. Hamel was Commander of the Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and Air Force Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Space from 2005 until 2008, where he managed research, development, acquisition and sustainment of the country’s primary portfolio of military space and missile programs with an annual budget in excess of $10 billion.

Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are very happy to welcome Mike Hamel to Orbital. The company is most fortunate to attract a national space leader with Mike’s experience and background to our enterprise. His accomplishments and expertise in strategic planning, program management, space operations and other fields will be of great benefit as the company expands in the years ahead.”

Mr. Hamel’s 36-year Air Force career included a broad array of space development, operations and policy responsibilities across the National Security Space sector. He served as Commander of the 14^th Air Force “Flying Tigers” from 2002 to 2005, where he directed all Air Force space and launch operations supporting Department of Defense commands and agencies, as well as civil and commercial space sectors. Earlier, he served in senior staff positions at Headquarters U.S. Air Force and Air Force Space Command, where he led work in defining user and program requirements, operations policies, organization and management for military space systems and capabilities. He also was Military Advisor to Vice President Albert Gore, where he advised the Vice President on defense, arms control, nuclear non-proliferation, critical infrastructure, space, science and technology policies and issues.

Mr. Hamel earned a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy and a M.A. degree in Business Administration from California State University. He is also a Graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University and the Program in National and International Security at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Mr. Hamel is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.