NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced on Monday, Oct. 13, it will be laying off 550 employees as part of its continued streamlining and restructuring plan, officials said.

The layoffs are not related to the government shutdown, said JPL Director Dave Gallagher in a brief message on the website of the federal research and space agency located near Pasadena.

Gallagher wrote on the website that the agency is “undergoing a realignment of its workforce, including a reduction in staff.”

He also wrote that the cuts of 550 employees — about 11% of its total staff — slices across technical, business and support areas. This is the third round of layoffs at JPL in the past two years.

There are about 5,500 JPL employees, including on-site contractors, at the sprawling, 168-acre facility in th

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