Last weekend, the internet went delightfully sideways when astronauts aboard the International Space Station shared photos of sushi— yes, sushi—floating through the cabin in zero gravity. It wasn’t part of a science experiment or survival training. It was just dinner. Or, as one astronaut joked, “the most expensive DoorDash delivery in history.”
While millions of people chuckled at flying fish and orbiting rice balls, folks in Western Oklahoma might have missed a key detail: space food might soon be a hometown topic.
Because out here in Burns Flat, just off Highway 6 where the wind likes to argue with your car door, we’re not just growing wheat and oil futures—we’re building a gateway to the stars.
THE REAL LAUNCH? IT’S HAPPENING IN BURNS FLAT Burns Flat is home to the Oklahoma Air & Space Port, one of just 14 FAA-licensed spaceports in the country, and the only one with a 12,503-foot paved runway—longer than the one at JFK in New York. That means it’s not just built for jets; it’s built for spaceplanes.
Enter Dawn Aerospace, a New Zealand– based company that’s chosen our stretch of red dirt as the next launch site for their sleek, reusable spaceplane called Aurora. This ain’t sci-fi. It’s a dual-flight suborbital rocket expected to break the Kármán line (that’s the edge of space) twice in one day by 2027—and then land like a regular airplane.
And Burns Flat is where it’s all supposed to happen.
This publication reached out to Dawn Aerospace for comment and will update the story as soon as a response is received.
FROM FLOATING SUSHI TO FLOATING JOBS Sure, space sushi is funny. But what’s not funny is the potential economic lift-off for Western Oklahoma. The spaceport’s development is expected to bring: - Over 100 new skilled jobs in aerospace engineering, logistics, and operations.
- STEM career opportunities for Oklahoma students, especially those in rural school districts.
- Tourism and tech investment as the region transitions from aviation support to orbital ambition.
That means we’re not just talking about rockets and payloads—we’re talking about paychecks, internships, and maybe even a sushi restaurant or two if this keeps up.
SO, WHY DOES SPACE SUSHI MATTER?
Because it humanizes space. It reminds us that astronauts are just people... eating sticky rice while floating past Earth. And in the same way, it reminds Western Oklahoma that space isn’t some distant dream for billionaires—it’s getting closer to home.
We may not be launching sashimi into orbit (yet), but we are on the short list of places where the next generation of space missions might launch. And that means we’ve got a front-row seat—and possibly a hand in writing the next chapter of space exploration.
FINAL THOUGHT FROM THE GROUND CREW So next time you bite into something pickled and weird, and someone says, “What on earth is that?”— just smile and say, “Probably something NASA’s already tested.”
Because the truth is, while sushi floats in space, Western Oklahoma is rising too—and this time, we’re aiming for orbit.
Editor’s Note: A request for comment and additional media materials has been submitted to Dawn Aerospace. As of press time, no response has been received. All photos used in this article are courtesy of Dawn Aerospace and are reproduced in accordance with their published media use policy.
