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Thursday, October 22, 2026

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Space · Thursday, October 22, 2026

NASA plans a faster way to pick science missions

The File desk · Oct. 22, 2026, 6:40 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

Confirmed as NASA's description, in a letter from Nicola Fox, of a new competition model and a town hall on Monday, Oct. 26. The time savings are NASA's claims. The letter does not give a clock time for the town hall.
  • Confirmed
    NASA Science said it will host a virtual town hall on Monday, Oct. 26, about Competition Model 2.0.
  • Confirmed
    The letter's “up to 45 percent” and the cut from 35 months to about 19.5 months are NASA's claims.
NASA told scientists it wants to choose missions faster. Associate administrator Nicola Fox said the agency will hold a virtual town hall on Monday, Oct. 26, to explain Competition Model 2.0. The letter does not give a time of day.1
Fox wrote that proposals will compete on the science first and will not have to include detailed engineering plans, cost, and implementation work until those are needed. She wrote that the changes “will reduce time from AO to step 2 selection by up to 45 percent,” and that a 35-month timeline “will be reduced to about 19.5 months.” Those figures are NASA's claims. She also wrote that smaller missions would move from about 32 months to about 19 months, and that cost breaches can include cancellation. She said flagship missions are unchanged.1
The town hall is virtual and will be hosted from NASA Headquarters. No hour is on the page.
Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. Scientists who propose missions spend years, and their institutions' money, before NASA picks. If the agency's own timeline is right, some of that wait gets shorter. The letter is a plan and a set of claims, not a stopwatch this desk has tested.
The letter sets the town hall for Monday, October 26, and it does not print a clock.
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.Nicola Fox, “Faster to Science: A Letter to the Science Community,” NASA Science. https://science.nasa.gov/directorates/smd/faster-to-science-a-letter-to-the-science-community/ “On Monday, October 26, we will host a virtual NASA Science Town Hall.” Competition Model 2.0: “compete on the science first.” “These updates in the mission selection process will reduce time from AO to step 2 selection by up to 45 percent. This means that the original 35-months timeline will be reduced to about 19.5 months.” Smaller missions “from about 32 months to about 19 months.” Cost breaches “will carry real consequences of up to, and including, mission termination.” Flagships unchanged. No clock time is printed.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • The hour of Monday's town hall. Not on the page.
  • When the new model applies to the first solicitation. Not stated as a date.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Faster to Science letter

    NASA Science · October 22, 2026

    NASA will host a virtual town hall on Monday, October 26, about a faster mission-selection process. The letter gives no clock time.

    https://science.nasa.gov/directorates/smd/faster-to-science-a-letter-to-the-science-community/

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