Oklahoma’s commission responsible for advancement of the space industry in the state sealed a deal this week to build a hangar for a $17 million spaceplane.
The Oklahoma Department of Aerospace and Aeronautics Commission approved construction of a $490,000 hangar for the Dawn Aerospace Mark-IIB Aurora Spaceplane. The Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority okayed a contract last April with the European-based company.
Dawn Aerospace is to become the first spacecraft to take off from the Burns Flat Air and Space Port and reach sub-orbital flight. In August, the company announced a joint completion of its first demonstration flight carrying a space domain awareness payload. Working with Scout Space, the firm tested integration of Scout’s ‘Morning Sparrow’ sensor suite aboard the Aurora platform, flying from a conventional runway at Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre in New Zealand.
The Journal Record reported that ODAA executive director Grayson Ardies said the design of the special hangar would take six to eight months.
“We’ll start construction next summer, and the hangar and everything is probably a seven-to-10-month build. You do the math, and you’re right there, a quarter to 2027 before we have a completed facility.”
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