NASA expands Deep Space Network with giant new dish in California desert

NASA has installed a new 34-meter antenna at its Goldstone complex to expand the Deep Space Network's capacity. The upgrade is necessary to manage the increasing communication demands from lunar missions like Artemis and other deep-space exploration projects.
Why it matters
As space exploration intensifies, the infrastructure supporting data transmission becomes a critical bottleneck for scientific and crewed missions.
The new antenna will boost capacity on NASA's increasingly strained deep-space communications network as Artemis and other missions drive up demand.
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Click for next article Antennas at the Deep Space Network's Goldstone complex near Barstow, California. The recently completed Deep Space Station 23 is in the foreground to the right. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter NASA's long-distance spacecraft-calling network just got a boost.
The Deep Space Network (DSN), best known for communicating with distant spacecraft such as Voyager 1, Voyager 2 and New Horizons , added a 114-foot (34-meter) radio-frequency antenna in California, boosting capacity on the increasingly crowded network.
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