On October 21, 2026, NASA announced Competition Model 2.0 (CM2.0), a new framework that changes how several classes of science missions compete for selection while leaving Flagship missions under their existing process. NASA says the changes put scientific merit earlier in reviews and projects shorter selection timelines for some competitions. NASA’s announcement sets out different competition formats by mission class.
NASA puts science first in early proposals
Under CM2.0, early proposals are to focus on the scientific case. Teams can defer detailed engineering, cost, and implementation plans until NASA needs that information to make a decision. For the first step in the accelerated competitions for Astro-Probes, New Frontiers, and Discovery, NASA says teams will submit a science case, a science implementation plan, and a proof-of-concept mission design. NASA estimates that this response will require roughly half as much material as a current Announcement of Opportunity (AO) response for those competitions. An AO is NASA’s call for mission proposals.
Competition formats by mission class
| Mission class | Competition format NASA announced |
| Astro-Probes, New Frontiers, Discovery | Accelerated two-step competition, with a science-focused first step followed by a Mission Implementation Study |
| MIDEX, Earth Explorer | Two-step competition with a broader range of potential implementing organizations |
| SMEX, Missions of Opportunity, Earth Venture, Hosted Payloads, Ride Shares | Single-step competition, with smaller review teams and virtual site visits |
| Flagships | Existing reformed large-mission process continues |
For MIDEX and Earth Explorer, NASA says universities and industry partners can be among the implementing organizations considered. Their experience on projects of similar complexity and cost will be assessed.
How the accelerated two-step process works
After the science-focused first step, a Mission Implementation Study assesses scientific merit, science implementation merit, and mission implementation merit. NASA says the competition will select one mission partway through Phase A. The selected team then completes Phase A and moves toward Key Decision Point B (KDP-B) with a more mature implementation design. Teams that are not selected will no longer have to carry their concepts through the rest of Phase A on their own.
The shorter timelines are NASA projections
For Astro-Probes, New Frontiers, and Discovery, NASA projects that the interval from an Announcement of Opportunity to Step 2 selection will fall from 35 months to about 19.5 months, a reduction of up to 45%. For MIDEX and Earth Explorer, NASA also projects up to 45% less selection time.
For SMEX, Missions of Opportunity, Earth Venture, Hosted Payloads, and Ride Shares, NASA projects that final selection will take about 19 months instead of about 32 months, a reduction of up to 40%. These figures are NASA’s targets for the announced process.
Across mission classes, NASA expects teams to use commercial spacecraft buses, subsystems, and multi-mission operations when they offer technical or cost benefits. NASA says cost and schedule controls will remain in place, with breaches potentially carrying consequences up to mission termination.
