Six months after piloting astronauts around the Moon for the first time in half a century, NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy Capt. Victor J. Glover Jr. is bringing that story to Oklahoma City. Glover will deliver the keynote address at the ninth annual Oklahoma Aerospace Forum on Thursday at the Omni Oklahoma City Hotel, putting a genuine Artemis II crew member in front of the state's aerospace industry just as it pitches itself as a rising hub for the sector.
According to a release carried by prnewswire.com, the forum will highlight the workforce and innovation of Oklahoma aerospace companies, particularly their work in propulsion and emerging technologies. Glover piloted NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon in April, a flight the release describes as marking humanity's return to the lunar vicinity after 50 years, with the crew traveling 252,756 miles from Earth at its farthest point. As KOKH reported, that lunar flyby came after Glover had already piloted Crew-1 Dragon to the International Space Station, giving him 178 days in space across two missions.
Glover's résumé extends well beyond spaceflight. The same release notes he has logged more than 4,000 flight hours as a naval test pilot, completed more than 400 carrier-arrested landings and flown 24 combat missions. Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, now CEO of Quantum Space, is set to introduce him at the event, the release states.
A Forum Built to Showcase the State's Space Ambitions
The Oklahoma Aerospace Forum was launched by Jones Strategies in 2018, and this year's ninth edition arrives as the state leans hard into its aerospace credentials. The event's framing, per the same release, positions Glover's visit as recognition of Oklahoma as what organizers call a heartland hub for present and future space and aerospace innovation — language echoing comments attributed to Brenda Jones Barwick, who said Glover has helped write the next chapter of human space exploration.
That ambition is backed by a buildout the state has been pursuing for years. Oklahoma has more than 1,100 aerospace entities, according to Air Cargo Week, and the state's colleges and universities are projected to deliver more than 18,000 aerospace-related degree completions between 2022 and 2026. The outlet also reports Oklahoma secured roughly $450 million in aerospace and defense capital investment across 37 projects in 2025, while the state's ACES program has supported nearly $2.5 billion in capital investment and 159 project wins overall.
Conflicting Numbers on the Industry's Size
Just how big Oklahoma's aerospace sector has actually become depends on which count you trust. Air Cargo Week reports the state's aerospace and defense sector already generates a $44 billion economic impact and supports more than 206,000 direct and indirect jobs. A separate report cited by KFOR, however, puts the industry's contribution at $52.5 billion and its job support at 250,000 — figures that don't match Air Cargo Week's tally, and it's unclear whether the two estimates were built using the same methodology or time frame.
Either way, the state's aerospace footprint has deep roots. The Oklahoma Department of Commerce describes a legacy spanning more than 70 years, including some of the world's largest military and commercial aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul centers. Air Cargo Week specifically points to the American Airlines Maintenance and Engineering Center in Tulsa, which employs more than 5,200 workers and is described as the largest commercial MRO facility globally. The state also counts 21 ABET-accredited engineering programs feeding that workforce pipeline, per the outlet's reporting.
Propulsion Clusters Taking Shape Statewide
Beyond the established MRO giants, newer pockets of the industry are forming around engine and propulsion work. A state brochure identifies Firehawk Aerospace as operating near Oklahoma City, alongside what it calls an early-stage concentration of space companies clustering around engine and propulsion testing already forming in Tulsa. Thursday's forum is meant to put a spotlight on exactly that kind of activity, pairing Glover's lunar-mission credentials with a room full of the companies supplying the hardware behind Oklahoma's aerospace push.
