The Aerospace Corp. broke ground June 16 on a new 16-hectare campus in Chantilly, Va., that the Los Angeles-based federally funded research and development center expects to occupy in 2014.

“The new campus will enable Aerospace to improve support to our customers,” Aerospace President and Chief Executive Officer Wanda Austin said during the groundbreaking ceremony. “We currently have employees working in several buildings in Chantilly; the new campus will bring them together and make them more accessible to our customers.”

Chantilly is home to the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, a major Aerospace Corp. customer.