spacetoday.net: Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America finalize lease agreement

Posted: Thu, Jan 1, 2009, 9:11 AM ET (1411 GMT)
Spaceport America illustration

Virgin Galactic has agreed to a long-term lease agreement with a new commercial spaceport in New Mexico, state officials announced Wednesday. Virgin Galactic will become the anchor tenant of Spaceport America, agreeing to a 20-year lease with the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. Virgin Galactic will pay $1 million a year for the first five years of the lease, and after that a fee based on the amortization of the remaining cost of the spaceport's facilities. One of the provisions of the lease also requires Virgin Galactic to establish its world headquarters in the state, Virgin Galactic agreed in principle to operate out of the spaceport in 2005, when plans for the spaceport were announced, but did not formally agree to operate out of the spaceport until this week. The lease agreement, along with the FAA launch site operator's license announced earlier in December, clear the way for the release of state money set aside for the spaceport. Construction of the facility, in the southern part of the state near the town of Truth or Consequences, is scheduled to begin in early 2009.