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A&M System authorized to bid for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, challenging Caltec

951 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 2 days ago by doubledog
doubledog
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6:15p, 9/17/26


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The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents authorized the System to build a team to prepare a proposal for the management of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL. Known as one of the agency's most prominent research centers, it is renowned for its work on Mars rovers and deep-space exploration.


Given Texas A&Ms success with Las Alamos, I think they have a good shot.
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scd88
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9:01p, 9/17/26
AG
This would be a big deal.
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Captn_Ag05
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12:31a, 9/18/26
AG
Cool but I imagine it would be in Houston.
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metroid_84
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1:57a, 9/18/26
It almost certainly would not involve moving JPL, which has a large number of very specialized facilities that would be extraordinarily expensive to relocate.

Instead TAMUS would be administering JPL in Pasadena, just as TAMUS administers Las Alamos in Nevada. For those of us in BCS, if TAMUS got the JPL contract, it would mainly mean the system would be more intertwined with NASA than it already is. Maybe it will make us more attractive to bring the Space Force to College Station?
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EBrazosAg
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In reply to metroid_84 • 7:57a, 9/18/26
AG
Los Alamos, New Mexico. Nice town. Not in Nevada.
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doubledog
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In reply to metroid_84 • 8:13a, 9/18/26
metroid_84 said:
It almost certainly would not involve moving JPL, which has a large number of very specialized facilities that would be extraordinarily expensive to relocate.

Instead TAMUS would be administering JPL in Pasadena, just as TAMUS administers Las Alamos in Nevada. For those of us in BCS, if TAMUS got the JPL contract, it would mainly mean the system would be more intertwined with NASA than it already is. Maybe it will make us more attractive to bring the Space Force to College Station?

Prestige is good. A big HAHA to CALTECH and CA would be better. It would also mean administrative (overhead) funds. TAMUS would not be the administrator for free.
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Valen
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10:08a, 9/18/26
This would be huge.

For those who don't know: the Bush School of Government has been hosting the U.S. Space Force's Captain's Leadership Course for several semesters now. That partnership is already in place.

We are now in the strongest position to become home to a major propulsion lab, not only because of Texas A&M's investment in space and space focused engineering, but because of the new facility we are building in connection with NASA's Johnson Space Center.

In my view, we sit at the tip of a space triangle: a launch site in Brownsville, a launch site in Louisiana, and now Terafab, on top of RELLIS and the Bush Combat Development Complex.
I believe we are the most competitive site not just for a propulsion laboratory, but for becoming home to a Space Force Academy.

Just my two cents from a space nerd.
Valen Cepak
College Station City Council Place 5 Candidate
Valen Cepak.com
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doubledog
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In reply to Valen • 10:30a, 9/18/26
Valen said:
This would be huge.

For those who don't know: the Bush School of Government has been hosting the U.S. Space Force's Captain's Leadership Course for several semesters now. That partnership is already in place.

We are now in the strongest position to become home to a major propulsion lab, not only because of Texas A&M's investment in space and space focused engineering, but because of the new facility we are building in connection with NASA's Johnson Space Center.

In my view, we sit at the tip of a space triangle: a launch site in Brownsville, a launch site in Louisiana, and now Terafab, on top of RELLIS and the Bush Combat Development Complex.
I believe we are the most competitive site not just for a propulsion laboratory, but for becoming home to a Space Force Academy.

Just my two cents from a space nerd.

The existing lab won't move, however we may see a spin-off lab here (or most likely Rellis). The thing is that TAMUS will get its "foot in the door" in future space research.
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techno-ag
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In reply to Valen • 5:27p, 9/18/26
AG
Valen said:
This would be huge.

For those who don't know: the Bush School of Government has been hosting the U.S. Space Force's Captain's Leadership Course for several semesters now. That partnership is already in place.

We are now in the strongest position to become home to a major propulsion lab, not only because of Texas A&M's investment in space and space focused engineering, but because of the new facility we are building in connection with NASA's Johnson Space Center.

In my view, we sit at the tip of a space triangle: a launch site in Brownsville, a launch site in Louisiana, and now Terafab, on top of RELLIS and the Bush Combat Development Complex.
I believe we are the most competitive site not just for a propulsion laboratory, but for becoming home to a Space Force Academy.

Just my two cents from a space nerd.


The left cannot kill the Spirit of Charlie Kirk.
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Valen
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In reply to techno-ag • 5:37p, 9/18/26
All I'm saying is if we get to be home to the Space Force permanently then we deserve to attempt to get a space shuttle or rocket ship on display. I've heard the stories about how close we came on getting one of the shuttles.
Valen Cepak
College Station City Council Place 5 Candidate
Valen Cepak.com
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doubledog
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In reply to Valen • 7:08p, 9/18/26
Valen said:
All I'm saying is if we get to be home to the Space Force permanently then we deserve to attempt to get a space shuttle or rocket ship on display. I've heard the stories about how close we came on getting one of the shuttles.

The Johnson Space Center (Houston) came close to getting a "used" shuttle (they have a replica) , but that is another story. The NASA/DOD contracts would be more lucrative.

FYI there are plans to move the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, to Space Center Houston near the Johnson Space Center.
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