With the construction of a “spaceport” underway in the southern New Mexico town of Upham, NASA has made moves to take advantage of the new flight center by striking a $4.5 million contract agreement with owners Virgin Galactic.
“„Under the deal, NASA will charter up to three flights on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, an air-launched spacecraft designed to carry eight people on trips to suborbital space.
“„[…]
“„Each suborbital spaceflight for NASA could carry up to 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of scientific experiments, allowing up to 600 different payloads per mission, Virgin Galactic officials said.
“„The company will provide a flight test engineer on every mission to help monitor and conduct experiments as necessary, they added.
“„In the deal, NASA committed to chartering one flight with Virgin Galactic, with options for two more. If the space agencyexercises those options and charters all three flights, the contract will be worth $4.5 million, officials said.