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The Mauna Kea Stewardship Oversight and Authority (MKSOA) is an 12 member board which will manage and control the summit and surrounding lands of Mauna Kea. The authority, which is placed within the Hawaii department of land and natural resources and will be the principal authority for the management of state-managed lands within the Mauna Kea lands after a 5 year transition period from the University of Hawai'i starting on July 1, 2023.^[1] The MKSOA was established in July 2022 after years of rising tensions between Native Hawaiians, who view the summit as a place of significant spiritual importance, and astronomers, for whom the site functions as one of the best locations for astronomical studies in the world.^[1] The authority was created with the aim of finding a balance between these two conflicting interests.

The MKSOA was established in July 2022 after years of protests over the proposal of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) which was planned to be built on Mauna Kea. Native Hawaiians view the summit of the mountain as a sacred site and have been vocal in their opposition of the construction of observatories since they first starting being built. The intensity of the opposition reached new heights after the proposal of TMT which included public protests, arrests, and a blockade which shut down every observatory on the summit for 4 weeks.^[2] The TMT corporation does have some backup locations selected, however Mauna Kea is the preferred location due to scientific, financial, and political criteria.^[3] The MKSOA was established as an unbiased body which includes members from both the Native Hawaiian community and the scientific community and was created with the aim of finding a balance between these conflicting parties.

The MKSOA will enter a 5 year transition period, starting on July 1, 2023, with the University of Hawai'i, during which the parties will jointly manage the land.^[1] The University of Hawai'i has had full control of the land surrounding the summit since 1968, when the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources gave it a 65-year lease for all land within a 4 km (2.5 mi) radius of its new telescope.^[4]

Once the transfer of power from the University of Hawai'i is complete on July 1, 2028, the MKSOA will have full control over the management of the land surrounding the summit.^[1] The authority's responsibilities will include being in charge of issuing land use permits once the current University of Hawai'i permit ends in 2033. This will be an influential decision as each of the 13 observatories on the mountain operate under subleases from this original permit, and will be decommissioned if an agreement can't be found in time.^[5]

The MKSOA consists of 11 voting members and 1 non-voting member each fulfilling a defined requirement.