What life-cycle cost baseline did NASA approve for the IMAP mission in July 2021?
Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is NASA's heliophysics mission to map the boundary of the heliosphere and measure particles reaching the inner Solar System. It launched in September 2025, three months ahead of its committed readiness date. NASA established a $781.8 million life-cycle cost baseline in July 2021, covering the mission rather than only its spacecraft construction or the earlier selection-phase cost cap. GAO reported the same life-cycle baseline in its 2026 assessment and noted that $22.2 million of unused development reserves moved into operations.
Approved budget
$781.8 million
Cost basis: 2021
Cost record
How the cost changed
Budgets, contracts and final costs may cover different stages. Each figure keeps its own year and source.
Approved budget
2021$781.8 million
gao.govOriginal budget
$781.8 million
U.S. Government Accountability OfficeProject record