NASA will open the management contract for Jet Propulsion Laboratory to competitive bidding for the first time in the institution's history, the space agency announced May 22, according to the Los Angeles Times.
For the first time, Caltech will have to enter a competitive process to retain its role running the La Cañada Flintridge facility, which it has held without challenge since the space agency came into existence in 1958. At up to $30 billion over ten years, the existing agreement between the university and NASA expires on Sept. 30, 2028, according to the Los Angeles Times.
In explaining its decision, NASA cited growth in the commercial space sector. "The rapid growth of the U.S. space economy indicates there may now be a viable competitive market for programmatic and institutional elements," the agency said, according to the Times.
According to the Times, a joint statement from Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum and JPL Director Dave Gallagher described the news as "no surprise," adding that the institution had assembled a team "to ensure we are positioned for success" when bidding begins.
Opening the JPL contract to bids is among several changes rolled out by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who sent a letter to the agency's approximately 18,000 employees outlining a sweeping restructuring aimed at directing funding toward top national space priorities and cutting red tape, according to the Times. In that letter, Isaacman wrote that the goal was "to concentrate resources towards the highest priority objectives in the National Space Policy and liberate the best and brightest from needless bureaucracy and obstacles that impede progress."
Caltech researchers originally built JPL in 1936, and the laboratory was folded into NASA upon the agency's formation in 1958.