Google acquires Nasa Airfield

Moffet Airfield

Internet giant Google has acquired National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Moffet Airfield.
The Moffet Airfield based in Mountain View, California just like Google was leased out to Google for 60 years and sits on more than 404 hectares of land. It contains three hangars, two runways, an airfield flight operations building, and a private golf course.


Google through its shell company Planetary Ventures LLC will be investing as much as $1.2 billion over the course of the lease and the sale will see NASA's operation and maintenance cost go down by as much as $6 million annually.

Under the terms of the deal, the land will continue to belong to NASA and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) while the operations of the vast property will be handed to Planetary Ventures. This will see Planetary Ventures investing up to $200 million dollars for the restoration of the property thereby rehabilitating and maintaining the historic integrity of Hangar One and the Shenandoah Plaza Historic District which was part of the initially proposed deal.

Hangar One can be seen from the aerial photograph on the left

Also the company will rehabilitate Hanger two and three, and operate the airfield in “in accordance with the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for public and private use". Google will also ensure to create an educational facility open to the public to teach them about the site and local tech advancements in Silicon Valley.

Prior to this deal, Google has been using the airfield for its fleet of private jets.According to the press release, after renovating Moffett Airfield Google will use the site as the home for its own advanced research facilities "once renovations are complete, Hangar One will again be home to high-tech innovation as Planetary Ventures begins using the historic facility for research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies. Hangars Two and Three will be used for similar purposes."

While NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden was quoted in the press statement that " “As NASA expands its presence in space, we are making strides to reduce our footprint here on Earth.”