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Founded by Caltech researchers, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is the leading center for exploring the solar system and more distant expanses that humans cannot yet reach.

Working together, scientists and engineers on the Caltech campus and at JPL lead missions in planetary exploration, Earth science, and space-based astronomy. Their spacecraft and telescopes probe the farthest reaches of our solar system and discover worlds beyond, while also observing our home planet to provide crucial insights on climate and to assist in disaster recovery. Meanwhile, technological innovations that originated at JPL continue to transform life here on Earth.

Learn more about the shared history of exploration and achievement between Caltech and JPL.

JPL News

Starry picture of our Milky Way

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

August 24, 2023

A Poverty of Planets in Galaxy's Outskirts

A Caltech-led study finds that stars on the fringes of the Milky Way possess fewer of the most common planet types.

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Campus-Lab Connections

Pinwheel galaxy

IPAC at Caltech

Learn how IPAC partners with NASA, JPL, the National Science Foundation, and the worldwide research community to enable transformative research of the infrared sky.

Artist's visualization of an exoplanetary system

The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute

Learn how NExScI, operated by Caltech for NASA and JPL, helps advance exoplanet science.

Artist concept of black hole jet

Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array

Explore NuSTAR, a NASA space-based X-ray telescope. The mission is led by Caltech and managed by JPL.