TULSA, Oklahoma (April 29, 2025) — Osage LLC marked a significant milestone on April 24, as Osage Nation’s Self-Governance and Strategic Planning Director Candy Thomas and Osage LLC Board Member Rick Perrier accepted the keys to the newly renovated Skyway 36 drone testing facility from Darren Burns, President and CEO of Wallace Design Collective.
The new facility has the capabilities to simulate natural wind and weather conditions in a laboratory setting for highly repeatable drone testing and helps establish Skyway36 as a centerpiece for the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility (TRAM) Cluster.
Construction of the 19,000-square-foot drone testing and validation facility was made possible through a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant, breaking ground in May of 2024. Completing this construction project marks the latest significant milestone in a multi-agency, public-private initiative to position Tulsa and the Osage Nation as national leaders in advanced aerial mobility. Partners include Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and his staff, Tulsa Innovation Labs and the City of Tulsa.
Thomas emphasized the leadership provided by DronePort Network, which helps support communities in the rapid scalability of drone technology. She commended general contractor Bronze Oak LLC on their guidance and professionalism, as well as the integration efforts of the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG). These entities ensured that all partners were informed of progress and were available to address any obstacles.
The next step is welcoming Swiss-based company WindShape and their equipment as the first tenant in the Skyway36 Droneport and Technology Innovation Center. The company plans to house eight specialized labs, each designed to test and validate different drone systems, such as a climate lab for assessing weather resilience, a propulsion lab to validate propulsion units, and two free-flight activity labs equipped with motion tracking cameras, GPS generators, and other digital tools that simulate a drone’s flight mission. A ceremony to welcome WindShape is scheduled for later this spring or early summer.
Russell Goff, CEO of Osage LLC, said the facility’s completion represents more than just a construction milestone. This public-private partnership is a vision realized for the region.
“This is what tribal-led innovation and economic development look like,” Goff said. “Skyway36 is fast becoming a cornerstone of the nation’s uncrewed aircraft testing infrastructure and shows what’s possible when sovereign tribal nations engage in public-private partnerships.”
Located within the Osage Nation, Skyway36 is just minutes from downtown Tulsa and provides direct access to Skyway Range, a 1,200-square-mile Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) UAS flight corridor developed by Osage LLC, Oklahoma State University, and Tulsa Innovation Labs. The broader Skyway36 campus also includes a 3,000-foot runway for small fixed-wing aircraft and helipad space for UAS and eVTOL vehicles.
The project has garnered support from diverse stakeholders, including Oklahoma State University, the Tulsa Regional Chamber, Tulsa Innovation Labs, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. The EDA provided a $38.2 million federal grant as part of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, helping establish TRAM as a national model for regional collaboration in next-generation transportation technologies.