Oh yes, that Spaceport America lease agreement

I contacted Virgin Galactic to enquire about what exactly was the lease agreement price tag.

I wanted to see how it differed to the figures I had been given for a story I had written a while back about a lease related memorandum of agreement between the two organisations. It would mean Virgin Galactic would pay out at least $27 million over 20-years

I was told that the company would check with Spaceport America about what detail the two were prepared to release, and have heard nothing since

So below is the detail from that original story - you can read the entire thing through the hypertext link above

Suborbital tourism company Virgin Galactic and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) have come one step closer to agreeing a 20-year deal worth more than $27 million with this week's signing of a memorandum of agreement.

Virgin Galactic has agreed to use New Mexico's Spaceport America as its primary launch and operational activities site, leasing 7,747m square (83,400 square feet) for a customer service centre, a dedicated hangar and mission control, a staff club house, employee accommodation and medical facilities.

The lease could be extended 10-years to 30 years and for the first five years its annual cost to Whitehorn's company will be $1 million. For years six to 20 that increases to $1.5 million.

Virgin Galactic will also pay yet-to-be-determined user fees and ground rent and a yearly surety bond as a security deposit that is 25% of the annual rental payments.