The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: 2 models, 2 deployments across 1 region. 1 source back the record.
CategorySpace
Overview
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory — federally funded research and development center operated by Caltech. Designs and operates robotic planetary exploration missions including Mars rovers (Perseverance, Curiosity), Lunar rovers (CADRE mission 2026), and Deep space probes.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 2 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Key facts
Operator
HQ
Founded
Active Mars rovers
CADRE mission
AI-planned driving
Lunar missions
Incidents
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (2)
View all models →Current platform
Curiosity Rover
NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover (landed 2012-08-06, operating). Drives with onboard AutoNav (think-while-driving terrain assessment and autonomous hazard avoidance); ground operators select daily targets and routes, the rover handles the traverse. Autonomous navigation, NOT autonomous mission planning.
Current platform
Perseverance Rover
Mars rover whose AutoNav self-driving system plans and drives routes onboard while in motion; drove ~88-90% of its first-Mars-year traverse autonomously, setting planetary-rover autonomy records.
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the deployment map
View the global map2 verified deployments across 1 region, newest verified Feb 2021. Explore where NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory deployment record →
Relationships
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
What are the NASA JPL Mars rovers?
What is autonomous space systems?
Current leadership (3)
- Dave Gallagher Director (11th JPL Director, effective June 2, 2025)secondary-verified
- Adam Steltzner Chief Engineer, Mars 2020 (Perseverance) Missionsecondary-verified
- Rob Manning JPL Chief Engineersecondary-verified
Former / Previously (2)
- Laurie Leshin Former Director (May 2022 – June 2025)secondary-verified
- Erin Defossé Spacecraft Mission Design Engineersecondary-verified
Safety record
No incidents on record for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory2 deployments
Recent coverage
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in third-party press
Peers
56 peers across 1 segment. Every NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
space(56)
36 companies in this segment · low_concentration (HHI 1188.742650389188) · leader K2 Space at 2172%
- Airbusdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Astrobotic Technologydirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Astroscaledirect competitor(inferred)strong
- Boeingdirect competitor(inferred)strong
- China Manned Space Agencydirect competitor(inferred)strong
- China National Space Administrationdirect competitor(inferred)strong
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- growth
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 11, 2026
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover shows journey across Gale Crater
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 7, 2026
Curiosity Has Landed
- Verified media addedVerifiedJun 6, 2026
NASA Perseverance self-driving on Mars
- Record createdJun 5, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedFeb 18, 2021
Perseverance Rover at Mars
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory?
What does NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory make?
Who competes with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory?
Where is NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory headquartered?
Where does NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory operate robots?
How many robots has NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory deployed?
Is NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory a top robotics company?
When was NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory founded?
Is NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Peer companies
- Impulse Space6 models
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- SpaceX3 models
- Astroscale2 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes First AI-Planned Drive on Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover completed its first AI-planned drive on Mars, demonstrating generative AI in rover route planning for autonomous exploration.
NASA JPL Missions — CADRE Lunar Rover Mission
NASA JPL's CADRE mission will deploy a trio of small autonomous rovers to work as a team exploring the Moon — launch 2026.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/nasa-jpl.md
- RSS feed: /companies/nasa-jpl/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/0c530f36-cb7c-4a57-a152-e75e7ba89352
- Revision history: /companies/nasa-jpl/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Impulse Space6 models
- AstroForge3 models
- Astrobotic Technology3 models
- China National Space Administration3 models
- SpaceX3 models
- Astroscale2 models
Video
NASA JPL researchers present a 250-mm diameter omni-directional anchor that uses an array of claws with suspension flexures, called microspines, designed to gri
A team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is creating and testing a snake-like robot called EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor). Inspired by a desire to des
Will we find life under the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa? Neil tours NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to witness the next age of space exploration: ocean wo
It started with JPL agreeing to land something on Mars – cheaply – and do it in a radically different way. This is how the era NASA called “Faster, Better, Chea
A solar eclipse, one of the year's best meteor showers, Venus at its brightest in the evening sky, and a partial lunar eclipse to close out the month. On Augus
So you think you can dance? The ATHLETE rover thinks it can, too. Under development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, ATHLETE is a 1/2-scale working protot
On Dec. 17, 2019, engineers took NASA’s next Mars rover for its first spin. The test took place in the Spacecraft Assembly Facility clean room at NASA’s Jet Pro
NASA’s SkyFall mission will build on the success of the Ingenuity Mars helicopter, which achieved the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Using
On May 15, 2026, NASA’s Psyche spacecraft passed about 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from the Martian surface, successfully using the planet’s gravity to give
The future is here, and it's robotic 🤖 Take a spin with the M4 (Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot) – a robot designed by researchers from @Caltech, @Northeastern
A futuristic NASA mission concept envisions a swarm of dozens of self-propelled, cellphone-size robots exploring the oceans beneath the icy shells of moons like
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are testing a prototype of IceNode, a robot designed to access one of the most difficult-to-reach places on Earth.
Today we'll be going on a tour of JPL, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA’s leader in robotic space exploration and one of the world’s most important Earth and
We took a toured JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab)
JPL engineers built a futuristic robot that may one day go to the moon. Learn more at NASAs ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) is a h
Heat Index
Serious50/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory draws attention at the 36th percentile but verifies reality at the 43rd percentile among space robots. Hype Gap -6.5, 21st widest among space robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 2 verified deployments. Limited public funding data for capital position assessment.
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 4, 2026