The Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA) is a development authority created by the state of
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
to operate a
spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...
near
Burns Flat, Oklahoma
Burns Flat is a town in Washita County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,057 at the 2010 census.
History
Airport
Immediately west of Burns Flat is Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark which is a licensed spaceport. The facility ...
.
The Authority's primary asset is the former
Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark
: ''For the military use of the facility before 1969 see Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base''
The Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark, also known as the Oklahoma Air & Space Port is a spaceport in Washita County, Oklahoma, near the town of Burns Flat ...
, a former military
airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
featuring a redundant 13,503-foot-long paved
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
. The airpark has been renamed the ''Oklahoma Air & Space Port''. Although the Oklahoma Spaceport received a
Commercial Space Transportation license from the U.S.
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
in June 2006, the Spaceport has not yet hosted any
sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...
s or launches of spacecraft into
earth orbit
Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi) in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth ...
.
However, the facility is still listed as an FAA currently-licensed launch site as of June 2020.
The first executive director of the Authority was Bill Khourie. Craig Smith became the new executive director in 2020 upon Khourie's retirement after 18 years of service.
See also
*
California Space Authority
The California Space Authority (CSA) was a nonprofit corporation representing the commercial, civil, and national defense/homeland security interests of California's diverse space enterprise community in four domains: Industry, Government, Acade ...
*
New Mexico Spaceport Authority The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is a non-governmental panel, appointed by the Governor of New Mexico, whose members represent the public sector in the development and construction of Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built comm ...
*
Space Florida
Space Florida is the aerospace economic development agency of the State of Florida. The agency was created by consolidating three existing state space entities into a single new organization via the Space Florida Act, enacted in May 2006 by the ...
*
Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority
The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA), commonly known as Virginia Space, is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia focused on bringing Private spaceflight, commercial spaceflig ...
References
Aerospace business development agencies
State agencies of Oklahoma
{{Oklahoma-gov-stub