“Peraton issued WARN notices to its employees, in an abundance of caution, to provide advance notice to its workforce that the contract may conclude earlier than expected based upon government funding uncertainties and will comply with any final government direction,” a Peraton spokesperson told MySA on Thursday, July 24 – a day after a notice was filed with the Texas Workforce Commission over concerns a seven-year contract could be cut short.
27.07.2025
It's a program that's run under only a few contracts since 1962.
Researchers with the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility on site. Operations for the program are currently contracted out to Peraton, but contract renewals hangs in the balance alongside 81 jobs in Texas.
Courtesy of NASA
So many programs are being cut and reconfigured as the sitting Republican cabinet slashes budgets and spending. In the mix, contracts, and thus jobs, are being ditched in the Lone Star State. This time, it’s a NASA contract with a Texas company that hangs in the balance, along with more than 80 employees.
Since the 1960s, NASA has funded the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility – a program which has been launching research balloons hundreds of feet in diameter upwards of 120,000 feet in the air. They’re used to conduct investigations in astrophysics, heliophysics and atmospheric research, according to NASA. Investigations, using these massive balloons to carry up to 4 tons nearly to space, can span a few hours to days or weeks, depending on the task at hand.
While the program has been underway for more than 60 years, NASA entered a new contract with Peraton in 2022 – after, in 2021, the company bought out a contract NASA had with Orbital Sciences Corp. which had stood for eight years. Prior to 2014, the facility was operated by the Physical Science Laboratory of New Mexico State University for 25 years.
In 2022, NASA awarded a contract to Peraton to operate the government-owned balloon facility (located at 1510 E. FM 3224 in Palestine, Texas) in 2022, estimating the seven-year contract agreement could be worth up to $339.1 million by the end of its life. Four years in, Peraton says the contract could end as early as September 30, according to the letter filed with the Texas Workforce Commission.
Should the contract not be renewed by then, or by two weeks after, Pertaon says it’ll have to let go of most of the employees keeping the site running. The company currently inks paychecks for 83 full-time and eight part-time staffers, and 81 are expected to join the unemployment line if NASA doesn’t agree to continue to paying Peraton.
Should job cuts become necessary, meteorologists, various kinds of engineers, administrators, administrative staff, technicians and many other job titles will be impacted. Though, whether this will actually happen remains a mystery.
Quelle: MYSA Hearst Newspapers
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