NASA now acknowledges what NBC Bay Area's Investigative Team first uncovered last year--that the government agency has been effectively giving a price break on jet fuel to a private company.

In a letter to an Iowa senator (PDF), NASA’s associate administrator for legislative and intergovernmental Affairs admits the agency was selling jet fuel at below market rates to H2-11, a company owned by the founders of Google.

Last September, NBC Bay Area examined seven years of fuel records from 2007 through 2013. According to those records, NASA sold to H2-11 discounted jet fuel that was then used to fly a private 757, a 767 and 5 other luxury aircraft all over the world. H2-11’s principle owners are the same as Google's: Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.

According to the fuel records, H2-11 purchased jet fuel for prices ranging from $2.37 to $3.20 a gallon. At nearby local airports, the exact same jet fuel goes for between $5 and $8.50 per gallon.

According to the inspector general’s report, the discount fuel saved Google’s principals between $3.3 million and $5.3 million since H2-11 was able to purchase the taxpayer subsidized fuel at Ames.