On March 19, 2024, NASA’s Canberra facility in Australia celebrated its 60th anniversary by starting construction on its fifth antenna, Deep Space Station 33.
This step will strengthen the global Deep Space Network (DSN), which has been communicating with spacecraft throughout the Solar System since 1963 via three key hubs: Goldstone, California, Madrid, and Canberra.
The new 34-meter antenna, scheduled to be operational in 2029, will be part of the network’s expansion program. Its design includes an underground, climate-controlled concrete pedestal to house the electronics and a rotating dish on a steel platform (alidade). This is the sixth such facility in the program: similar antennas are already operating in Madrid (since 2022), and the final stages of installation are nearing completion in Goldstone.
