The reforms, directed by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, respond to long-standing concerns that the agency’s current process imposes heavy burdens on proposing teams. “We have heard you. We have listened. We know that the burden of bringing great ideas forward has been too heavy for too long,” Fox wrote in an open letter to the NASA science community. The new approach aims to prioritize scientific merit over complicated engineering and financial planning during initial evaluations.
NASA currently selects many science missions through competitive Announcements of Opportunity. Under the existing two-step process, teams must include thorough engineering and financial detail before NASA selects finalists for further study, a process that can take almost three years and require significant investment from teams that may never be selected. CM 2.0 emphasizes scientific distinction during initial evaluations, allowing teams to defer much of the engineering and financial planning until later.
Under the new model, Discovery planetary missions, New Frontiers spacecraft and the mid-sized Astro-Probes astronomy program will retain a streamlined version of the two-step process, but with nearly half of the material required for initial proposals. “This means that the original 35-months timeline will be reduced to about 19.5 months, all while having a stronger, more mature mission at the time of selection,” Fox wrote. Flagship missions will continue following their current procedures, which were recently revised based on a study of best practices from the development of the James Webb Space Telescope.
Medium-class Explorer and Earth Explorer missions will open to a wider range of applicants, including universities and commercial organizations. NASA plans to evaluate developers based on their track records with projects of similar size and complexity, and will offer principal investigator-led teams the chance to request support from Goddard Space Flight Center or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the first stage of selection. Smaller, lower-cost programs, including Small Explorer and Earth Venture missions, Missions of Opportunity, hosted payloads and rideshares, will move to a single-stage process, dropping final selection timelines from approximately 32 months to just 19.
The reforms place particular emphasis on the roles of Goddard and JPL in developing science missions, which NASA hopes will reduce competition between the centers while maintaining workforce expertise. The changes also come with stricter oversight and what Fox called “rigorous cost and schedule control.” “Breaches of control thresholds will carry real consequences,” she wrote, noting those consequences could include mission cancellations. “This means more missions, more often, with more incredible science at a lower cost,” Fox wrote, describing the moment as “real opportunity” backed by an administrator empowering the directorate to move faster and a commercial market ready to help.
Fox and other top NASA science officials will provide an overview of the reforms during a virtual town hall today at 2 p.m. EDT, with a livestream and an opportunity for the public to submit questions.
