HWBRIEF
NASA's new Competition Model 2.0 splits the pitch in two: scientists lead with the science case, and only do the costly engineering and budget homework once an idea makes the shortlist.
NASA's science arm is splitting the mission pitch in two: scientists will lead with the science case and only do the costly engineering and budget homework once an idea is on the shortlist.
The change is called Competition Model 2.0, and it comes from Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a letter to the science community. Fox framed the change as NASA's response to Administrator Jared Isaacman's direction to "accelerate the delivery of science" and to free researchers from years-long, unpredictable proposal cycles.
For the two-step mission classes, Step 1 now requires only a science case, a science implementation plan, and a proof-of-concept design, roughly half the material of today's response. Step 2 is an implementation study run with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center or the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with one mission down-selected partway through Phase A. NASA projects the time from announcement of opportunity to Step-2 selection will fall from about 35 months to 19.5 months, a cut of up to 45 percent.
The smallest missions move to a single-step process with a smaller review team and virtual site visits. Selection time drops from about 32 months to 19 months, up to 40 percent faster. The Astrophysics Explorers 2026 Small Explorer announcement of opportunity, released June 9 and announced June 12, already runs under those single-step rules.
Flagship-class missions stay on the existing post-Webb track, run directly by a lead NASA Center. Cost and schedule controls remain mandatory across every class, and breaching the thresholds can still end a mission.