Aurora Flight Sciences is expanding its Columbus operation, but a company spokesman declined to give specifics Friday, citing continuing negotiations.
General Manger Tony D’Aminco said by telephone the company is expanding and the first step in that expansion is installing a new autoclave.
“It’s in its very infancy stages of development,” he said of the deal with the unnamed commercial customer. The project will take two years to develop.
Aurora produces unmanned aircraft systems. Simply put, an autoclave is a pressure cooker.
“The building literally gets built around the autoclave,” he said, which is 16 feet by 40 feet.
The size of the building is to be determined and depends on production needs, D’Aminco said, but other equipment will be bought and installed in the new building.
He said he expects specifics on the building and needed equipment in the next 30 days.
Aurora will see a significant increase in its Columbus workforce, D’Aminco said. The plant employs 60 people now.
The company uses layers of composite materials that are treated with heat and pressure in the autoclave to strengthen and bond the material, he said.
Aurora opened a 22,000-square-foot plant in Columbus in 2007, after spending two years at a temporary manufacturing facility at Mississippi State University’s Raspet Flight Research Lab in Starkville.
In 2008, Aurora opened a 66,000-square foot addition to the facility.
The company in 2010 unveiled its Orion remotely piloted aircraft, commonly called a drone, with a 135-foot wingspan designed to remain in flight for five days at 20,000 feet and capable of carrying a payload of 1,000 pounds.
The Orion project was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Defense The company already was working on sonobuoy launchers for the Navy’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopter.
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