East Kern Airport District · Mojave, California, United States
Launch Pads
—
Annual Launches
3-5
Max Payload (LEO)
—
Established
2004
Mojave Air & Space Port is the first facility in the United States to be licensed by the FAA for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft. Located in California's high desert, it is a major hub for aerospace research, development, and testing. It hosted the historic SpaceShipOne flights that won the Ansari X Prize in 2004.
| Region | North America |
| Country | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Coordinates | 35.0585° N, -118.1517° E |
| Ownership | Public–Private |
| Parent Entity | East Kern Airport District (California special district) |
| Regulatory Regime | FAA-AST Launch Site Operator License (horizontal launch) |
| Latitude Advantage | 35.1°N — high-desert altitude (~850m) and adjacent to Edwards AFB restricted airspace; orientation neutral, the value is the test corridor and dry climate (340+ flying days/year). |
| Azimuth Range | Horizontal launch — runway-bounded; carrier-aircraft drop trajectories cleared via Edwards/R-2515 |
| Employees | ~3,000 (across 70+ on-airport tenants) |
| Website | https://mojaveairport.com/ |
Anchor Tenants
Active Users
Strategic Value
Densest aerospace R&D cluster in the western U.S. and the indispensable home of air-launched and hypersonic vehicle development. Tenant concentration (Scaled, Stratolaunch, Virgin Galactic) gives it durable strategic relevance beyond launch cadence.
Recent Activity
Stratolaunch Talon-A hypersonic vehicle drop tests continued through 2025; Northrop Grumman / Scaled Composites flight-test programs ongoing.
2026
Stratolaunch Talon-A reusable hypersonic test flight cadence ramp
2026
Continued classified DoD hypersonic test campaigns from Roc carrier