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NASA Science has announced Competition Model 2.0, a staged plan to change how it solicits and selects science missions. The agency says some mission classes could reach selection up to 45% faster, but the announcement does not provide a full implementation schedule or details for every class.
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate says it will change how it competes and selects missions through Competition Model 2.0, a plan intended to shorten proposal and review timelines and reduce the work required before a mission is selected. The agency says it will explain the model and take questions at a virtual town hall scheduled for Monday, October 26; the announcement does not state the year.
NASA says the revised process will ask teams to compete on the science case first, rather than prepare extensive engineering, cost and implementation plans before those details are needed to make a decision. The agency describes the change as a response to years-long competitions, contract-management challenges, limited predictability and funding burdens that it says have affected mission proposals.
For certain mission classes, the first stage would require a science case, science implementation plan and proof-of-concept mission design. NASA says this removes roughly half the material currently required in an Announcement of Opportunity response. The second stage would involve a mission implementation study to assess scientific and implementation merits and surface risks. NASA says the process could reduce the time from an Announcement of Opportunity to the second-stage selection by up to 45%, from 35 months to about 19.5 months.
The plan is not identical across mission sizes. NASA says the process for its largest flagship missions will not change, while other classes would use revised two-step or single-step competitions. For one single-step process, the agency projects a reduction from about 32 months to about 19 months, or up to 40%. NASA also says smaller missions will draw on commercial space capabilities, but the source material ends before giving further details about that approach.
Shorter Routes From Proposal to Selection
If NASA’s projections are achieved, teams could spend less time and fewer resources preparing proposals and waiting for selection decisions. The agency says its current process can require years of work before a mission is chosen, including detailed planning that may later be unnecessary. A science-first initial review could shift early competition toward the proposed research rather than the resources available to prepare a large proposal.
NASA also says the approach is intended to widen access. It states that a strong idea should be judged on its merits and that principal investigators without major university or commercial backing should receive fair consideration. For some competitions, eligible teams may include universities and industry partners, and NASA says teams may request pairing with a Goddard or Jet Propulsion Laboratory implementation team. These are stated goals and design features; the announcement does not yet provide results showing how participation or mission outcomes will change.
The projected schedule reductions matter because mission selection affects when teams can move from a concept toward development. NASA says the revised second stage would bring implementation questions forward and allow unsuccessful teams to stop carrying concepts through the rest of Phase A on their own. That may reduce work on proposals that are not selected, though the agency has not quantified the expected savings in money or staff time.
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How NASA Plans to Reshape Competitions
NASA’s announcement frames CM 2.0 as a response to concerns about its existing two-step competitions, which the agency says have taken years and placed too much burden on teams. The Science Mission Directorate says Administrator Jared Isaacman directed it to accelerate science delivery, reduce time and resources spent on competition, and focus funding on high-priority missions across NASA’s science divisions.
The plan retains a separate approach for the largest missions. NASA says flagships will continue under a process developed after the James Webb Space Telescope and a subsequent Large Mission Study. Under that approach, NASA directs the overall mission to a lead NASA center, which then competes science teams and instruments through targeted solicitations.
For other mission classes, NASA describes a two-stage route: an initial science-focused competition followed by an implementation study. Goddard Space Flight Center and JPL are identified as the agency’s two Science Centers of Excellence. NASA says a study for a New Frontiers or Discovery mission could, depending on the selected science, be awarded under Goddard management to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The announcement says changes will be rolled out in stages and refined with community input.
Implementation Details Still Pending
NASA has announced the model’s broad structure and some projected timelines, but the source does not provide a complete schedule for when each change will take effect. The town hall’s year is also unspecified in the supplied material. The announcement does not give detailed eligibility rules, review criteria, funding amounts or the precise division of responsibilities for every mission class.
The agency describes timeline cuts as reductions of up to 45% or up to 40%, depending on the process. Those figures are projections, not reported results from completed competitions. The source also does not quantify anticipated cost savings or establish how the changes will affect proposal success rates, mission risk or the eventual science returned. Details of the planned process for the smallest missions are incomplete in the supplied text.
Town Hall and Phased Rollout
NASA Science says it will hold a virtual town hall on Monday, October 26, from NASA Headquarters to explain Competition Model 2.0 and answer questions from the science community. The announcement does not specify the year, start time or registration information.
After the town hall, NASA says it will implement the changes in stages and refine them with community input. The next useful milestones will be formal competition announcements and guidance that set out the rules, dates, review standards and implementation arrangements for each mission class. Until those details are published, the projected schedule reductions should be understood as agency estimates rather than confirmed outcomes.
Key Questions
What is NASA Competition Model 2.0?
Competition Model 2.0 is NASA Science’s proposed revision to how it solicits and selects missions. It emphasizes an initial science-focused proposal, with more detailed implementation work deferred until a later stage where applicable.
How much faster does NASA expect mission selection to be?
NASA projects reductions of up to 45% for certain two-stage competitions, including a change from 35 months to about 19.5 months for one timeline. For a single-step process, it projects a reduction from about 32 months to about 19 months, or up to 40%. These are estimates stated by the agency.
Will the new model apply to NASA flagship missions?
No change is planned for the largest flagship missions, according to NASA. The agency says they will continue under an approach developed after the James Webb Space Telescope and the Large Mission Study.
When will the new competition rules take effect?
NASA says changes will be rolled out in stages, but the announcement does not provide a full implementation calendar. The agency scheduled a virtual town hall for Monday, October 26, without stating the year in the supplied material.
Source: primary
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