California announced a proposal to modify its tax code to include space travel. While commercial passenger-carrying space flight is still at least a year away from reality, the state is getting ready. Similar to tax codes governing other types of transportation, California’s Franchise Tax Board plans to tax space travelers by the mile, but the more miles a company travels, the less it will be taxed.

Virgin Galactic said it’s hoping to shuttle its first space tourists next year, and when the company is ready to fly, California will be ready to claim its share of the revenue. The proposed tax code is not just applicable to companies that specialize in space travelers, but it also applies to all space transportation, including cargo hauls. The tax rate will apply to any company planning to launch a spacecraft from California, whether or not they are a California-based company. California companies launching elsewhere will be exempt from the space mile regulations.

For those companies who can’t reveal their mileage due to confidentiality agreements, such contracts shall be conclusively presumed to be 310 statutory miles multiplied by the number of launches pursuant to the contract.

While California is the first state to consider adding commercial space flight to its tax code, others will soon follow suit.

The Franchise Tax Board says uncertainty about California tax treatment of space transportation activities could cause the industry to focus its activities elsewhere.