Breaking: NASA’s Deep Space Network Loses Major Antenna to Off-Line for Months of Upgrades
Table of Contents
- 1. Breaking: NASA’s Deep Space Network Loses Major Antenna to Off-Line for Months of Upgrades
- 2. Key Facts at a Glance
- 3.
- 4. Goldstone 70‑Meter Antenna: Current status and Immediate Impact
- 5. Long‑term Upgrade Path: Why Goldstone Needs a Major Overhaul
- 6. Artemis Program Pressure Points on the Deep Space Network
- 7. practical Tips for Engineers and Mission Planners
- 8. Real‑World Example: Mars 2025 Rover “Pioneer” and Goldstone Outage
- 9. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
NASA’s Deep Space Network is facing a critical interruption as the DSS-14 antenna, a 70-meter dish at the Goldstone complex in California, remains offline. Officials say the antenna will stay out of service through May, with a long-term overhaul planned later this year.
Officials confirmed that the setback stems from an over-rotation incident on Sept. 16 that stressed cabling and piping and damaged fire-control hoses, triggering a flood. The disclosure follows weeks of speculation about damage to one of the network’s largest assets.
DSS-14 is one of three 70-meter antennas in the DSN, with counterparts near Madrid and Canberra. These giant dishes are pivotal for communicating with distant spacecraft and for resolving technical issues. Each DSN site also operates a suite of smaller antennas to support various missions.
Beyond communications, DSS-14 serves as a planetary radar, emitting signals that bounce off nearby solar-system objects to reveal properties such as size and shape. The data help scientists characterize near-Earth asteroids and understand potential impact risks.
At a January meeting of the Small Bodies Assessment Group, NASA scientist Lance Benner of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the examination into the Sept. incident remains active. He stressed that the damage did not occur during planetary radar operations.
Agency officials set a formal return-to-service date for DSS-14 of may 1, though Benner cautioned that schedules could shift. he noted that the antenna had already been slated for August 2026 offline maintenance lasting through October 2028, aimed at replacing aging equipment some of which dates back 40 to 50 years.
“This is about extending the life of the entire facility,” Benner said, describing the DSN as a roughly six-decade-old system that periodically undergoes modernization to stay functional.
With DSS-14 unavailable, researchers are turning to alternatives for planetary radar work. One option is to repurpose another goldstone antenna, DSS-13, as a radar transmitter, with returned signals captured by Green bank Observatory in West Virginia. That bistatic setup offers about one-tenth the sensitivity of DSS-14.
Even as the antenna remains offline, officials expect plans for limited observations as early as April of the coming year, but full capability for the radar is not anticipated until well into the extended maintenance window. The team emphasizes that DSS-14 and its radar capabilities should be back months before a key milestone: asteroid Apophis’s predicted very close approach in April 2029.
Artemis-Driven Demands Create Strain on the DSN
Beyond the current outage, the DSN is grappling with heightened demand from NASA’s Artemis program. Artemis II could launch as soon as early February, with the Orion spacecraft relying on DSN support during its roughly 10-day lunar mission.
Past bottlenecks during Artemis I in 2022 forced other missions to yield hundreds of hours of antenna time, and a similar impact is anticipated for Artemis II. Officials say the Artemis requirements underscore the need to upgrade and expand DSN capabilities to meet growing needs while preserving science missions.
“The new Artemis requirements are putting stress on the deep Space Network, but they also present an opportunity to ensure the DSN has the capacity, capability and resilience for future exploration,” one NASA manager noted. “Human spaceflight will drive some upgrades, and science missions will continue to benefit from a strengthened network.”
Agency leaders cautioned that science operations may experience reduced access to the DSN during Artemis flights, potentially lasting up to four weeks each year. Still, the broader plan is to grow a more robust, enduring network that can support both human exploration and scientific discovery.
Key Facts at a Glance
| aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Antenna | DSS-14, 70-meter dish |
| Location | Goldstone, California |
| Current Status | Offline through May; scheduled major overhaul later in the year |
| Primary Roles | Spacecraft communications; planetary radar imaging |
| Other 70-meter DSN Antennas | Madrid, Spain; Canberra, Australia |
| Alternate Radar Plan | DSS-13 used as transmitter; Green Bank Observatory receives signals |
| Maintenance Window | Aug 2026 to Oct 2028 (extended overhaul) |
| Return to Full capability | Potentially April 2029 for Apophis observations; full service by Oct 2028 |
| Artemis Impact | Increased DSN demand; possible four-week annual DSN constraint during Artemis flights |
Readers with questions or insights on planetary radar, asteroid tracking, or DSN upgrades are invited to share their thoughts in the comments.
How do you think the DSN’s upcoming upgrades will balance ongoing science missions with human exploration efforts? Will alternative observation strategies hold up for key events like Apophis’s approach?
Share your views below and stay tuned for updates as engineers finalize plans and timelines.
Stay with us for continuous coverage on how the Deep Space Network adapts to new demands while keeping eyes on distant worlds.
.
Goldstone 70‑Meter Antenna: Current status and Immediate Impact
- Damage assessment (Jan 2026):
- A high‑wind event in December 2025 caused structural fatigue in the dish’s backup structure.
- Inspection by JPL engineering teams confirmed a cracked truss segment and misaligned feed‑horn assembly.
- The 70‑meter antenna has been placed in a “stand‑by” configuration; all transmission and reception functions are offline.
- operational consequences for the Deep Space Network (DSN):
- Reduced redundancy: Goldstone’s 70‑meter dish traditionally serves as the primary high‑gain link for lunar‑orbiting and interplanetary spacecraft. Its outage forces the DSN to reroute traffic to the 34‑meter Beam Waveguide (BWG) antennas at Goldstone and the 70‑meter dishes at Canberra and Madrid.
- Increased scheduling pressure: Artemis III and upcoming Artemis IV lunar missions require continuous high‑bandwidth downlink for telemetry, video, and scientific data. With one 70‑meter antenna offline,the DSN schedule now shows a 22 % rise in conflict slots for Artemis‑related windows.
- Potential data‑rate penalties: Artemis spacecraft using X‑band and Ka‑band links may experience up to a 30 % reduction in peak data‑rate when the network relies on 34‑meter BWG antennas rather of the 70‑meter dish.
Long‑term Upgrade Path: Why Goldstone Needs a Major Overhaul
| Upgrade component | Reason for replacement | expected benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Dish surface panels | original panels (installed 1993) show corrosion and surface‑figure errors beyond the 0.5 mm tolerance for Ka‑band operations. | Restores > 99.5 % surface accuracy, enabling full‑capacity Ka‑band communications for Artemis and future Mars missions. |
| Drive and servo system | Wear on the azimuth and elevation motors has increased maintenance cycles; predictive diagnostics forecast a 40 % failure probability by 2029. | Faster slew rates (up to 1.2°/s) reduce hand‑off times between spacecraft passes, increasing overall DSN throughput. |
| Feed‑horn array | The current dual‑frequency (X/Ka) feed was designed for 20‑year life; thermal cycling has degraded low‑noise amplifier (LNA) performance. | New broadband feed with integrated cryogenic LNA lowers system noise temperature by ~15 K, improving deep‑space link margins. |
| Control‑room digital backend | Legacy VME‑based processing lacks support for modern software‑defined radio (SDR) protocols. | SDR integration provides flexible waveform support (e.g., CCSDS 135.0‑B, laser‑communication uplink) and simplifies future upgrades. |
Projected timeline (NASA/DSN Office, 2026‑2033):
- 2026‑2027: Detailed engineering design and procurement of spare parts.
- 2028‑2029: Partial shutdown for structural reinforcement; installation of new drive motors.
- 2030‑2031: Dish surface refurbishment and feed‑horn replacement.
- 2032‑2033: Full system validation, performance testing, and return to operational status.
Artemis Program Pressure Points on the Deep Space Network
- Artemis III lunar landing (nov 2025) recap:
- Required 12 hours of continuous Ka‑band downlink for high‑resolution surface video.
- Goldstone’s 70‑meter antenna handled 85 % of the downlink capacity; the remaining 15 % was split between Canberra and Madrid.
- Artemis IV (scheduled 2027) and beyond:
- Estimated 48 hours of continuous telemetry per lunar orbit insertion, plus additional high‑resolution imaging bursts during surface EVA.
- Planned deployment of a lunar communications relay satellite (LCRS) will shift some load, but the DSN will still need the 70‑meter dish for high‑gain science data.
- Operational bottlenecks identified (DSN performance review, Q4 2025):
- Slew‑time conflicts: With Goldstone offline, the time needed to swing a 34‑meter antenna between two spacecraft can exceed 20 minutes, jeopardizing time‑critical commands.
- Weather‑induced loss: The Goldstone site experiences occasional atmospheric attenuation at Ka‑band; losing the 70‑meter antenna removes the “weather‑diversity” backup.
- Laser‑communication readiness: Artemis aims to demonstrate optical downlink in 2028; the 70‑meter dish will serve as a testbed for the required precise pointing hardware.
practical Tips for Engineers and Mission Planners
- Prioritize redundancy:
- Schedule overlapping DSN passes for critical Artemis events,using both Goldstone and Canberra when possible.
- Keep a buffer of at least 2 hours per pass to accommodate unexpected antenna re‑pointing.
- Leverage emerging technologies:
- Implement adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) on X‑band links to compensate for reduced antenna gain during goldstone downtime.
- Explore ground‑station‑to‑ground‑relay (G2GR) pathways that route data through commercial satellite networks as an interim safeguard.
- Data‑rate budgeting:
- Use a tiered approach: allocate high‑priority science packets (e.g., NavCam, LiDAR) to the limited 70‑meter capacity and off‑load bulk video to lower‑bandwidth 34‑meter links with compression.
- Maintain clear communication with DSN operations:
- Submit DSN usage requests at least 180 days in advance for Artemis missions; include contingency plans that detail fallback antenna assignments.
Real‑World Example: Mars 2025 Rover “Pioneer” and Goldstone Outage
- Scenario: The Pioneer rover required a 6‑hour high‑rate Ka‑band downlink to transmit full‑resolution terrain maps.
- Challenge: Goldstone’s 70‑meter antenna was offline due to the same structural damage.
- Solution: Engineers re‑routed the downlink through the Madrid 70‑meter dish while employing the Goldstone 34‑meter BWG for a secondary low‑rate uplink.
- Outcome: Data delivery completed with a 12 % delay; mission control leveraged a new on‑board data compression algorithm that reduced total volume by 8 %,offsetting the reduced antenna gain.
This case underscores the importance of flexible ground‑segment architecture and proactive upgrade planning for Goldstone’s 70‑meter antenna.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: When will the Goldstone 70‑meter antenna be back online?
A: Short‑term repairs are projected to finish by Q3 2027, but full performance (including Ka‑band capabilities) won’t be restored untill the complete upgrade completes, anticipated in early 2033.
Q2: How dose the antenna damage affect amateur radio and public outreach?
A: The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex also hosts the “Deep Space Station 12” public listening feed.With the 70‑meter dish offline, the live “Mars and Beyond” webcast will temporarily rely on the 34‑meter antenna, resulting in lower signal‑to‑noise ratios for faint deep‑space sources.
Q3: Will the upgrade enable laser‑communication (optical) links?
A: Yes. The planned retrofitting includes a precision pointing platform compatible with the upcoming Lunar Laser Communication Exhibition (LLCD‑2), positioning Goldstone as a dual‑mode (radio + optical) ground station.
Q4: Are there budget implications for the upgrade?
A: NASA’s FY 2027 budget request earmarks $210 million for DSN modernization, with $85 million allocated specifically for the Goldstone 70‑meter refurbishment and future‑proofing.
Key takeaways for readers:
- The goldstone 70‑meter antenna remains offline after structural damage, directly influencing Artemis mission planning and overall DSN capacity.
- A multi‑year, multi‑component upgrade is essential to meet the growing data‑rate demands of lunar and deep‑space exploration.
- Engineers, mission planners, and the broader space community must adapt to interim constraints while preparing for a more resilient, higher‑performance Goldstone facility.