Mesa will be home to the final assembly manufacturing facility for Virgin Galactic's next-generation spaceships.

The global aerospace company announced Thursday that it signed a long-term lease near the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Virgin Galactic (NYSE: SPCE) said the facility at 5559 S. Sossaman Road will be able to produce six spaceships a year and bring on "well into the hundreds" of engineering and manufacturing employees in the process.

An exact number of employees the facility will employ and the timelines for hiring weren't immediately available.

Two buildings — at 35,896 square feet and 115,200 square feet — will make up the new campus in Mesa, according to the company. Virgin's new digs will have a 160-foot-wide door for the spacecraft to move in and out of the facility.

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By Ron Davis, Reporter - Phoenix Business Journal