NASA completed negotiation of a new cost-plus award fee
contract to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
for the operation of the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. The contract will run five years
and have a value of approximately $8 billion.
The contract extends the JPL agreement beyond the current
expiration date of Sept. 30, 2003. The contract includes a
new award-term provision that, based on performance reviews,
may extend the contract period of performance for up to an
additional five years.
Consistent with the agency’s “One NASA” initiative, the new
contract will more closely align JPL’s policies and procedures
with those of other NASA centers.
“The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a national treasure with
an amazing record of successes unmatched in the world. This
new contract gives NASA much improved capabilities and
management tools and provides powerful incentives for JPL,”
said Dr. Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science
at NASA Headquarters, Washington. “I think this is good
news for NASA, JPL, Caltech, and the American people who
benefit from the unbelievable work done at JPL.”
JPL, NASA’s only federally funded research and development
center, conducts research expanding human understanding of
the Earth, the Sun, solar system, stars, planetary systems,
galaxies and the formation and evolution of the Universe. JPL
also manages NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, which is
operating two spacecraft orbiting the red planet and planning
a series of ambitious missions over the next decade,
including twin rovers scheduled for launch next year. JPL’s
other responsibilities include support to NASA’s
applications, space science, Earth science and other high-
value science programs.
JPL uses instrument observations from space vehicles as the
primary tools for planetary exploration, investigations and
science programs. These missions are supported by ground-
based research and laboratory experiments. Earth sciences
include research into interactions of our planet’s oceans,
atmosphere, continents and the effects of solar energy in
order to gain an integrated understanding of the total Earth
system.
The new contract provides JPL and Caltech with greater
clarity in their relationship with NASA and other government
agencies. It focuses JPL on its core mission with incentives
for performance and returns full management to JPL of the
Deep Space Network, which communicates with interplanetary
spacecraft. The management change will assure greater
reliability for the network and more management clarity. In
addition, JPL now has the ability to review and comment
directly on NASA policies that affect their performance thus
improving JPL’s ability to accomplish its missions and
providing NASA with advice on the impacts of new policies.