US space startup Quantum Space will be setting up a new manufacturing plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The new plant, announced on May 12, 2026, will not be a greenfield construction. Instead, Quantum Space has chosen to renovate a site with a long history of aerospace production, the grounds of the former Spartan Aircraft Company.
Several aircraft types were produced between 1928 and 1961 at the historical manufacturing facility, which is adjacent to Tulsa International Airport (TUL).
The plant was established in the mid-1920s by Mid-Continent Aircraft Company, an aircraft maker acquired by the Spartan Aircraft Company in 1928. The latter continued to produce several of its models at the Tulsa plant until 1961, when it wound down its aircraft making business.
The new facility will enable Quantum Space to scale up production of the firm’s Ranger spacecraft, as well as its large propulsion tanks and precision parts. It will also be complementary to other facilities the company already has in Hawthorne, California, where it conducts some of its research and testing, and Rockville, Maryland, where its headquarters and engineering department is located.
In addition to manufacturing the Ranger and some of its components, the new facility will also house some of the related testing processes
Work on the new Tulsa facility will begin in July 2026 and is expected to become operative by Q1 2027.
This news adds to the momentum Quantum Space is achieving in its quest to develop a highly maneuverable spacecraft capable of performing a variety of national security and commercial missions across different orbits.
Earlier in 2026, Quantum Space, which was founded in 2021 by its current Executive Chairman, Kam Ghaffarian, announced it had raised $80 million in a Series A funding round. More recently, on May 5, 2026, it had appointed former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who served at the space agency between 2018-2021, as its new Chief Executive Officer.
This move is also an endorsement of Oklahoma’s quest to become one of the centers of aerospace development in the United States. The state, which already houses significant facilities in this field, such as Tinker Air Force Base and the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, is intent on attracting a new generation of aerospace activities in fields such as drones and space.
Other companies that have recently announced investments in the Oklahoma aerospace sector include Swiss drone testing firm Windhsape, New Zealand-based Dawn Aerospace, and US engine maker Kratos.
