NASA & Space Contracts Intelligence — October 16, 2026

The ROSES award has a base-plus-options value of $23,893,748 against a $15,406,186 obligation, so roughly $8.5M depends on future option exercise or funding actions running through 2028-09-30. Only $714,868 (about 4.6%) has been outlayed, indicating an early stage of spend.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee Dragonfly delivery order, awarded 2025-06-02 and running to 2028-09-24, has $9,400,976 outlayed (about 52% of obligation), indicating active execution. The cost-plus structure shifts most overrun risk to the government.

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Phase A delivery order, performing 2018-10-01 to 2027-10-31, has $10,338,035 outlayed against $16,810,189 base-plus-options, indicating a multi-year commitment rather than a one-time award. Approximately $3.86M of option value remains unobligated.

All three awards depend on NASA appropriations for future option exercise and funding actions. Unobligated option value totals roughly $8.5M (ROSES) plus $3.9M (ExoMars) plus $4.1M (Dragonfly), so continued funding is required to realize full contract values. The data provided does not include prior-year NASA budget figures, so no budget trend can be confirmed.

All three awards go to a single recipient, Caltech, and its JPL management office, so the award set is concentrated in one institution and one agency management channel.

Continued NASA science R&D funding through JPL management could support future delivery orders to Caltech and, indirectly, to subcontractors on Dragonfly and ExoMars hardware, though no public subcontractor is identified in the data.

Three concurrent delivery orders spanning ROSES research, Dragonfly flight hardware, and ExoMars TGO show sustained NASA funding for JPL-managed planetary and earth science across 2018-2028 periods of performance. The awards are cost-plus-fixed-fee and non-competed, reflecting an established institutional relationship.

{"entity" => "California Institute of Technology / NASA JPL", "reason" => "Three awards totaling $42,291,439 obligated, with about $16.4M in combined unexercised option value and low outlay on the ROSES award (4.6%).", "trigger" => "Option exercise on ROSES toward $23,893,748, Dragonfly funding toward $18,054,181, and ExoMars modifications affecting the $16,810,189 base-plus-options value"}

{"entity" => "NASA science budget (civilian space R&D)", "reason" => "Continued funding of all three delivery orders depends on annual NASA appropriations, and the period of performance extends to 2027-2028.", "trigger" => "Next federal appropriations action for NASA science and any continuing resolution affecting option timing"}