Virgin Galactic to host job fair for new Long Beach location

LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- Virgin Galactic, a commercial spaceflight company, is hosting a job fair and open house at their new Long Beach facility over the weekend.

Employees from the privately funded space company, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson, began moving into a massive hangar next to the Long Beach airport.

CEO George Whitesides said the new facility is a milestone for the company.

The next move for Virgin Galactic is to develop and manufacture a satellite launch vehicle called "Launcher One." The vehicle takes satellites into orbit from the "White Knight Two Carrier" aircraft, a jet-powered cargo plane that lifts items going out into space to a certain altitude.

Virgin Galactic's new office will also help fill a void in the city when Boeing's C-17 production facility closes this summer.

"I think it's a really neat thing. It's a sign of American innovation and sort of a neat (way) to show the cycle turns and we're going to do something new," Whitesides said.

Long Beach joins Virgin Galactic's list of locations in New Mexico and the Mojave Desert. For the city, it means bringing jobs back to a community with a deep history in aerospace.

"It goes to show that Long Beach is really an innovative city. We're bringing a lot of high-tech jobs and good paying jobs and there's nothing more high-tech and futuristic than space," Mayor Robert Garcia said.

The company is looking to hire 100 people at first, and then more as the location expands.

The job fair starts on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon.