The space technology company SpinLaunch has signed a 100-year land lease with the Aleut Corp., the landowning Native corporation on Adak, where it plans to build a launchpad to send satellites into low Earth orbit.
The agreement was finalized in October 2024 and announced Thursday in a statement from the Aleut Corp.
Aleut Corp. spokesperson Kate Gilling said in an interview that the corporation has been in talks with the California-based space start-up for several years.
“Finally to be at the point where we can announce and share it is very exciting,” Gilling said.
SpinLaunch plans to use Adak as a site for its centrifugal launch technology, which the company calls a mass acceleration system. It spins payloads in a vacuum chamber at high speeds and hurls them into orbit without relying on fuel-powered rockets.
Aleut Corp. Vice President of Regional Affairs Julie Toomey describes it “like a high tech slingshot.”
“It's cleaner, simpler and significantly more cost effective,” she said.
SpinLaunch first drew attention in 2018 for proposing the method as a lower-cost alternative to conventional rocket launches. The company has since completed about 10 test flights using a scaled-down version of the system at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
In recent years it explored locations for a permanent launch site, which included a 2020 visit to Unalaska. But that did not advance past early discussions.
Adak is the westernmost municipality in the United States and was once the home of a naval air base. SpinLaunch said in its Thursday statement that it chose Adak for the island’s combination of remoteness and existing infrastructure. The island has a deepwater port, regular commercial air service and existing military facilities from the naval base, which closed in 1997.
SpinLaunch also pointed to Adak’s potential for renewable energy development, including wind and geothermal resources.
The island’s population shrank rapidly when the base was decommissioned, falling from over 4,000 residents in the 1990s to fewer than 50 people today. The city closed its school last year due to shrinking enrollment.
Toomey said the existing infrastructure, much of it originating during the military’s buildup in the 1940s, attracted SpinLaunch to Adak.
“There’s operational airport and port infrastructure, former military buildings we can repurpose, and renewable energy potential to help power the site,” she said.
Gilling, with Aleut Corp., said she thinks the project will spur growth and attract families back to the island.
“That will certainly mean an increase in population,” she said. “We'll need more restaurants. We'll need more hoteling and housing space. We'll need more infrastructure. So that influx of a larger population will only bring about benefits for the community.”
Adak does not have a village corporation and is instead under the umbrella of the regional corporation.
Aleut Corp. Board Chair Jenifer Nelson said the project will benefit the corporation’s more than 5,000 shareholders in addition to Adak’s community members.
“We are working to drive meaningful economic development that brings long-term benefits to our shareholders and the region as a whole,” Nelson said.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has been outspoken in his support for Adak’s development, and Aleut Corp. representatives say he backs the project.
Environmental planning is ongoing, and the Aleut Corp. said it’s paying special attention to nesting bird habitats.
A timeline for launch operations has not been announced.
