Orbital Sciences Corp. completed its $55 million acquisition of General Dynamics Corp.’s satellite manufacturing division under a deal announced in March, the company said April 2.

With the formal closing of the deal, Dulles, Va.-based Orbital acquires a 12,000-square-meter satellite manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Ariz., and 325 new employees, many of whom have security clearances to work on sensitive U.S. government programs.

Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson said when the deal was announced that acquiring General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems would position Orbital to compete for a half-dozen government payload opportunities in the next 18 months that could be worth as much as $1.5 billion.