The current contract with Caltech expires in 2028.
NASA is opening bids to decide who will run the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) after the contract with Caltech expires in 2028. This is a huge deal, since Caltech has run the program since its founding in 1936. JPL is actually older than NASA by more than two decades.
This doesn’t mean Caltech is closing. It simply means that NASA is considering other options. The agency issued a notice seeking feedback from any interested parties, as “the rapid growth of the U.S. space economy indicates that there may now be a viable competitive market.”
NASA says that “holding a competition for this contract” will help the agency “assess the potential benefits of alternative management approaches.” This includes “opportunities to increase mission performance, innovation, and overall cost and operational efficiency.”
It also said it was part of a “broader government and agency effort to find efficiencies.” The Trump administration has put NASA in the dock in recent months and has asked Congress to cut the agency’s budget by 23 percent.
These cuts will also have a direct impact on JPL. It’s possible that NASA is looking for a new management partner with deep pockets. Funding the space agency is about 0.35 percent of the $7 trillion federal budget and, after all, we live in critical times where every penny counts.
Who could have managed JBL if Caltech had not existed? The contract will be worth at least $30 billion and potential bidders could include contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, along with other universities with strong aerospace engineering backgrounds.
The project is technically classified as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC). These projects are usually managed by non-profit entities such as universities, or the charitable arm of an existing corporation. However, it’s 2026 and nothing really matters anymore, so who knows what effect this will have.
The space agency says it is starting the search for a new partner long before the contract expires in 2028 to ensure the continuity of the project. Whatever happens by 2028, laboratory operations should not be affected.
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