You only need VS if you're planning to make a more-complex-than-normal addon, such as a ship with various custom features, like systems simulation and other-than-rocket engine types.
For most purposes, you can pretty much work your way there just by exporting the mesh to the Orbiter .msh format and adding the necessary cfg's for it to work with something like Vinka's Spacecraft.dll (which acts as a pre-made generic externally configured make-your-own-ship module) -
Or perhaps by now there's something even simpler you can use - Haven't done Orbiter modding in a while, you see...
But anyways, in short, the answer to your question is: Yes, you can. There are various ways to do it, see the addon development board for details. :thumbup:
Cheers