Business is booming at Loral Conic, a...
Business is booming at Loral Conic, a Kearny Mesa manufacturer of telemetry transmitters used in missiles and satellites. The subsidiary of New York-based Loral Corp. expects a 50% increase in bookings over the previous year for the fiscal year ending this month and plans to add 100 employees before Dec. 31, bringing payroll up to 500.
Loral Conic, which was founded as Conic in 1961 by five scientists who left Cubic Corp. and acquired by Loral Corp. in 1975, declined to specify revenue and profit figures. But the company said its bookings, running at a $50-million annual rate, are typically delivered over an 18-month to two-year period.
Revenue in 1989 will represent a 12% to 15% increase over 1988, President Joel Schindall said last week. The company has no plans to expand its Balboa Avenue plant, however. Parent Loral Corp. reported a $74.3-million profit on $1.4 billion in revenue for fiscal 1988.
Loral Conic’s telemetry transmitters enable engineers to track the flight of space vehicles. The company also makes data encoders, space transponders and “flight termination receivers,” or units that scientists use to destroy missiles when launches go awry.
Loral Conic customers Ford Aerospace, General Electric, Boeing and Martin represent 60% of the company’s total business. The company in November received an $18-million contract to provide satellite-control equipment to Ford Aerospace, the largest contract in Loral Conic’s history.
The company has spawned two other divisions since 1961: Loral TerraCom and Loral Instrumentation, both based in San Diego.
The federal Defense Contract Administration recently cited Loral Conic for awarding 9% of its subcontracts to small businesses, a share that is significantly above the 5% goal of the agency, Schindall said.
