This JPL Satellite Mission Is Burning Through Its Funding. One Reason: the Eaton Fire

This JPL satellite mission is burning through its funding. One reason: the Eaton fire

The next phase of a highly successful satellite mission led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has burned through its rainy day fund and now risks cost and schedule overruns, according to a new report. One of the culprits: the 2025 Eaton fire, which came within a mile of the La Cañada Flintridge research facility.

Audit Finds GRACE-C Gravity Mission Within Baseline but Burning Through Its Reserves

Independent Estimate Shows Project Could Top Its $628 Million Management Agreement as JPL Overhead and Euro Costs Rise

Can NASA’s GRACE-C Mission Preserve Earth’s Water Record as Cost Pressures Grow?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had spent $50.5 million of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment-Continuity (GRACE-C) mission’s $82.5 million in project-managed reserves by May 2026. An audit released on September 23, 2026 found that the mission remained within its formal cost and schedule commitments, but warned that financial pressure was reducing its ability to absorb further problems.