The Aerospace Corporation has completed the framework for its new headquarters building, under construction in El Segundo, Calif.

To mark this milestone, officials and construction personnel held a "topping-out" ceremony on Feb. 8, hoisting into place the last steel girder for the structure, which is scheduled for completion in early 2009.

Ground was broken for the four-story structure in July 2007. It will replace a 45-year-old building that that no longer meets code requirements.

Daniel S. Barbee, Facilities Division general manager, said the new building -- to be slightly larger and to the west of the current headquarters building at 2350 E. El Segundo Boulevard -- will prove more cost-effective than improvements to the current building in the long term, both for Aerospace and its principal customer, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, located just across El Segundo Boulevard to the north.

Besides meeting the latest building and safety codes, including earthquake codes, the new building will provide a modern workplace for employees, Barbee said.

The general contractor for the new building is W. E. O'Neil Construction Company. DMJM Architects designed the building.

The new structure will comprise 177,000 square feet of space and will accommodate up to 450 employees, Barbee said.

By contrast, the current headquarters building comprises 120,000 square feet of space and houses about 300 employees.

Included in plans for the new building is an overhead pedestrian walkway that will span El Segundo Boulevard, allowing employees and Air Force personnel to travel safely between the headquarters building and Los Angeles Air Force Base.

Modernization of the company's El Segundo campus also includes a new parking structure that opened in February 2007 and an addition to its laboratory, which is being planned.