NASA has added a giant new dish to the Deep Space Network in the California desert

NASA’s Deep Space Network has added a new 34-meter-wide radio antenna at its Goldstone complex in the California desert, giving the aging communications system more capacity as demand from Artemis astronauts and dozens of robotic missions keeps climbing. The antenna, called Deep Space Station 23, finished a multi-month testing campaign and began operating in early August, and it is now helping relay data for spacecraft as far-flung as Voyager 1. Its addition is the latest step in a long-running, over-budget upgrade project that NASA says is central to keeping deep space communications from becoming a bottleneck.

Deep Space Station 23 Joins NASA’s Goldstone Complex

The new dish, known as DSS-23, is a 114-foot-wide (34-meter) multifrequency beam-waveguide antenna located at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It is the fifth antenna at Goldstone, joining three existing 34-meter dishes and one much larger 230-foot (70-meter) antenna. Goldstone is one of three Deep Space Network complexes spread roughly evenly around the globe, alongside sites near Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia, positioned so at least one facility can always keep a spacecraft in view as Earth rotates, according to JPL’s announcement of the antenna’s completion. The network traces back to 1958, when JPL, then under contract to the U.S. Army, operated three spacecraft-tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California; the more powerful Deep Space Network that exists today was formally established in December 1963. It has since relayed communications from Neil Armstrong’s first moonwalk during Apollo 11 in July 1969, carried images back from Mars rovers since the 1990s, and confirmed that both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 had crossed into interstellar space during the 2010s.

Moving Sensitive Electronics Underground for Easier Upgrades

DSS-23’s multifrequency beam-waveguide design routes incoming and outgoing radio signals down to a stable, climate-controlled room beneath the antenna rather than housing sensitive electronics on the moving dish itself. That arrangement lets the antenna work across multiple radio frequencies for different missions and gives engineers far easier access for maintenance and future upgrades than older antenna designs allow. Construction of DSS-23 began in February 2020, and the 133-ton metal reflector framework was bolted atop its pedestal in December 2024 before engineers spent months installing the panels that reflect signals to and from spacecraft.

From a Ribbon-Cutting to Tracking the Chandra X-ray Observatory

After a testing campaign that ran from May through July 2026, DSS-23 began operations on Aug. 3, its first task tracking NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. NASA and JPL leadership held a ceremonial ribbon-cutting at the completed antenna on Aug. 25, and since going live the dish has communicated with a growing list of missions, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Psyche asteroid mission, the Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, and Voyager 1 in interstellar space. “Every subsystem must be integrated, calibrated, and verified to operate with extraordinary precision and reliability before it can support NASA’s deep space missions,” said Germaine Aziz, manager of the Deep Space Network’s Aperture Enhancement Project at JPL.

Why Artemis and a Crowded Mission Roster Strained the Network

More than 40 spacecraft exploring the solar system and interstellar space rely on the Deep Space Network, and that demand has outpaced the network’s capacity for years. Communications support for the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission in 2022 and the crewed Artemis 2 mission in 2026 took priority over robotic missions as astronauts traveled around the moon, temporarily squeezing out availability for other spacecraft. DSN managers have warned about the strain for years; as early as 2021, DSN manager Brad Arnold told an industry audience that the network could not keep up with demand even while adding new antennas, and that missions should expect reduced availability as the Artemis program continues to take priority over robotic spacecraft. NASA leadership has framed the new antenna as a direct response to that pressure. “By expanding the Deep Space Network, we are strengthening the communications foundation NASA needs for the bold missions ahead,” said James Kenyon, associate administrator of NASA’s Research and Technology Mission Directorate.

One Antenna Down, One to Go in a Project Years Behind Schedule

DSS-23 is the fifth of six new 34-meter antennas planned under the Deep Space Network’s Aperture Enhancement Project, which began in 2009. The sixth and final antenna, Deep Space Station 33, is expected to come online at the Canberra complex in 2029, which would bring the network’s total count of 34-meter antennas to 13. The project has run well over its original budget and timeline: a 2015 NASA Office of Inspector General estimate put the cost at $362.4 million, but by the start of fiscal year 2023 that figure had climbed 68% to $706 million, with the project running nearly five years behind schedule, according to a NASA Office of Inspector General report.

Backing Up 70-Meter Dishes After Six Decades of Continuous Use

Part of the rationale for adding more 34-meter dishes is that each complex’s single 70-meter antenna, workhorses that have run for more than 50 years, are becoming increasingly costly to maintain and repair. Several 34-meter antennas can be electronically arrayed together to combine their signal strength, giving each site a redundant backup capability roughly equivalent to its aging 70-meter dish. NASA also points to future demand beyond current missions, including a planned permanent moon base near the lunar south pole as soon as the 2030s, which the agency says will eventually depend on a coordinated communications network of its own linked back to facilities like Goldstone.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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