NASA announced the layoff of 570 employees at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Even NASA is not immune to layoffs. The agency says it is cutting about 530 employees at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California amid budget uncertainty, writes Engadget.

The layoffs will affect 8% of the laboratory’s employees. In addition, JPL is laying off about 40 contractors. In total, 570 people will be laid off. Employees will be informed of their fate soon.

“The impacts will occur across both technical and support areas of the Lab. These are painful but necessary adjustments that will enable us to adhere to our budget allocation while continuing our important work for NASA and our nation,” the agency’s statement said.

Uncertainty over the final budget that Congress will allocate to NASA for 2024 played a major role in the cuts. The agency is expected to receive about $300 million for Mars Sample Return (MSR).

This is an ambitious mission in which NASA plans to launch a lander and orbiter to the Red Planet in 2028 and bring back soil from there. In its budget proposal for 2024, NASA requested just under $950 million for the project.