BLUF: NASA has obligated $822,965,672 to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) under a sole-source task order funding the Psyche asteroid mission, run through Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

The task order, numbered 80NM0018F0645, was signed July 27, 2018, under Caltech's parent Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) contract with NASA, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity vehicle 80NM0018D0004. The award funds JPL's work on Psyche, NASA's mission to study a metal-rich asteroid of the same name in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Why it matters: The task order illustrates how NASA funds flagship science missions through JPL's FFRDC arrangement rather than standalone contracts — task orders are issued non-competitively under FAR 6.302-3 ("mobilization, essential R&D") because JPL is the sole entity operating the lab. For contractors and subcontractors supporting NASA science missions, this structure means prime-level competition happens once, at the FFRDC level, with mission funding then flowing through incremental task-order obligations over a contract's life rather than as a single lump-sum award.

By the numbers:

• Task order value: $822,965,672 obligated to date
• Base and all options: $852,193,230.97
• Period of performance: October 1, 2018 – September 30, 2028
• NAICS code: 541715 (Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences)
• Contract vehicle: Sole-source task order under parent IDIQ 80NM0018D0004
• Awarding office: NASA Management Office — JPL

The task order was not competed; NASA cites FAR 6.302-3 authority, reflecting JPL's unique status as the only FFRDC NASA uses to operate deep-space missions. The Psyche spacecraft, launched in October 2023, completed a Mars gravity-assist flyby on May 15, 2026, using the planet's gravity to adjust its trajectory toward the asteroid belt. According to NASA and JPL mission updates, the asteroid's gravity is expected to capture the spacecraft in late July 2029, with the prime science mission beginning that August and running roughly 26 months.

Source: USAspending.gov