The nonbinding memorandum of understanding involving $1 billion in investment from Saudi Arabia is Richard Branson’s latest success in obtaining financial support from governments for his Virgin Group’s space companies.
The table below shows funding invested directly into the group’s space ventures and indirectly for infrastructure.
| VIRGIN GROUP SPACE COMPANIES — DIRECT & INDIRECT GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT | |||
| YEAR | GOVERNMENT | AMOUNT (MILLIONS) | PURPOSE |
| 2006 | New Mexico | ~$225 | Custom built spaceport named Spaceport America constructed on 18,000 acres of land — Virgin Galactic signed 20 year lease to serve as anchor tenant |
| 2009 | Abu Dhabi | $280 | Government-owned sovereign wealth fund Aabar Investments obtained 31.6 percent share of Virgin Galactic — plans for a spaceport where SpaceShipTwo would fly in Dubai — future commitment of $100 million more when Virgin Galactic developed viable plan for small-satellite booster (LauncherOne) |
| 2011 | Abu Dhabi | $110 | Aabar Investments increased share of Virgin Galactic to 37.6 percent |
| 2017 | Saudi Arabia | $1,000 | Under non-binding MOU, government-run Public Investment Fund (PIC) would obtain undisclosed share of three Virgin Group space companies: Virgin Galactic, Virgin Orbit and The Spaceship Company — Virgin Group to maintain majority ownership |
| TOTAL: | $1,615 | ||
| Future | Saudi Arabia | $480 | PIC has an option to invest nearly a half-billion more in Virgin Group space services |
| TOTAL: | $2,095 | ||