NASA puts 34-meter deep-space antenna into operation

At NASA’s Goldstone complex near Barstow, California, the new 34-meter-wide Deep Space Station 23 now turns toward spacecraft scattered across the solar system. After testing from May through July, the antenna began operations on Aug. 3, first tracking the Chandra X-ray Observatory and then communicating with dozens of missions, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Psyche, Juno, and Voyager 1.

DSS-23 is part of the Deep Space Network, NASA’s system of giant radio dishes at Goldstone, Madrid, and Canberra, Australia. The network supports more than 40 spacecraft exploring the solar system and interstellar space, while more than 100 NASA and non-NASA missions rely on the Deep Space Network and Near Space Network.

The antenna uses a multifrequency beam-waveguide design. Radio signals travel from the dish to a stable, climate-controlled underground room, rather than relying on heavy, sensitive electronic equipment mounted on the moving structure. That arrangement gives the antenna flexibility across radio frequencies and makes maintenance and upgrades easier. Construction began in February 2020; engineers later installed panels on a 133-ton reflector framework and calibrated the complete system.

So what changes in practice? NASA gains another operational dish for receiving data from distant spacecraft and sending commands to them, adding capacity to a network whose single 70-meter antennas have been in near-continuous service for more than 50 years. The 34-meter antennas can also be combined to provide communications backup equivalent to a facility’s 70-meter antenna.

The upgrade is not finished yet. A sixth enhancement-project antenna, Deep Space Station 33, is expected to come online at Canberra in 2029, bringing the network to 13 34-meter antennas.