Google Inc has signed a long-term lease for part of a historic US Navy air base, where it plans to renovate three massive hangars and use them for projects involving aviation, space exploration and robotics.
The giant Internet company agreed to pay US$1.16 billion in rent over 60 years for the property, which also includes a working airfield, a golf course and other buildings.
The 400-hectare site is part of the former Moffett Field US Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula.
Google plans to invest more than US$200 million to refurbish the hangars and add other improvements, including a museum or educational facility designed to showcase the history of Moffett and Silicon Valley, according to a NASA statement.
The agency said a Google subsidiary called Planetary Ventures LLC will use the hangars for “research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.”
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have a well-known interest in aviation and space. However, the company declined on Monday to discuss specific plans for the property, which is located just a few kilometers from the company’s main campus in Mountain View.
NASA plans to continue operating its Ames Research Center on the former US Navy site. Google is to take over operations of the runways and hangars, including a massive structure that was built to house dirigible-style navy airships in the 1930s.
NASA said the deal would save it US$6.3 million in annual maintenance and operation costs.
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