Satellite company expected to bring 1,000 jobs to the Duke City

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A long-vacant business park is now getting a big company to set up shop by the Albuquerque Sunport.

Mayor Tim Keller announced that more than 1,000 jobs would come to the Duke City for the construction of the Orion Center, which will be located on the corner of Girard and Gibson.

"It is literally going to be economically larger than when Intel first came,” Keller said.

Plans for the Orion Center have been in the works since at least last summer.

"What we’re announcing today is a frankly unbelievable bright spot in the midst of a pandemic,” Keller said during an announcement from November 2020.

The Orion Center is a satellite company that plans to map and record the Earth from space in order to benefit things like agriculture, national border security, and infrastructure.

Mayor Keller said a formal announcement is coming in the weeks ahead.

He previously said the city was expecting Orion to break ground this spring and finish construction by 2023.