Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) of NASA. The Laboratory has a wide-ranging charter for solar system exploration, Earth observation, astrophysical research, and technology development. It is located on 176 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, CA, and employs approximately 5,000 scientists, engineers, and support personnel. JPL also operates and manages NASA’s Deep Space Network, a worldwide system of antennas that communicates with spacecraft and conducts radar and radio astronomy studies.