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SPACE NOWHistory

The past behind what's next.

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Deep Space Network

A set of very large radio antennas spaced around the Earth so that at least one of them can always see a distant spacecraft, no matter how the planet has turned. It is how everything beyond Earth orbit is heard from.

  • Revision: 1
  • Dates: 1963-01-01 (year precision)
  • Last reviewed: 2026-08-14
  • Status: Operational
  • Also known as DSN
  • nasa-facility: DSS43

Orientation

Role: Deep space tracking, telemetry and command

Operator or programme: NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Geography: Goldstone (California), Madrid (Spain), Canberra (Australia)

Chronology

  1. year precisionDeep Space Network enters the record.

Related records

  • explained by

    What did it take to get television from the Moon to a living room?

    Confidence: high · 1969-07-21 (day precision)

  • compared with

    How does a spacecraft arrive somewhere safely — by flying in, or by being caught?

    Confidence: high · 2009-09-10 (day precision)

  • communicates with

    The link that still reaches the spacecraft.

    Confidence: high · 1977-09-05 (day precision)

Inspect the record1 assertion, each with its source

  • DSS43, the 70-metre antenna at the network's Canberra facility, is the only antenna that can send commands to Voyager 2.

    Source class: space agency recordNASA/JPL — DSS43 Deep Space Network antenna, CanberraView the source

    UncertaintyStated by NASA in 2020 in the context of a scheduled upgrade; accurate for that period rather than permanently.

CorrectionsNone recorded

No corrections recordedThis record has not been corrected since it was published.