A significant component of NASA's Deep Space Network, a 70-meter antenna located at the Goldstone, California, site, has been offline since September 16th due to damage. The incident may lead to an extended period of unavailability, putting additional pressure on the already strained system. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) confirmed the situation on November 10th but provided no firm timeline for the antenna's return to service.
According to a statement released to SpaceNews by JPL, “On Sept. 16, NASA’s large 70-meter radio frequency antenna at its Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, over-rotated, causing stress on the cabling and piping in the center of the structure. Hoses from the antenna’s fire suppression system also were damaged, resulting in flooding that was quickly mitigated.”
The antenna, known as DSS-14, is the largest at the Goldstone facility and one of the largest in the entire DSN. Two additional 70-meter antennas are located at DSN sites near Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia. These large antennas are crucial for communicating with spacecraft operating in the outer solar system. They can also support missions closer to Earth that require high data rates or are experiencing technical difficulties. Each DSN site is equipped with several smaller antennas as well.
Concerns regarding damage to DSS-14 had been circulating for some time. Real-time monitoring of DSN communications showed DSS-14 as inactive, displaying an "Antenna Unplanned Maintenance" status. Last month, JPL stated it couldn't comment on the antenna's condition because of coordination challenges with NASA offices during the government shutdown.
The recent JPL statement provided no specific date for DSS-14 to resume operations. A mishap investigation board has been convened by NASA to examine the incident. “The antenna remains offline as the board members, engineers and technicians evaluate the structure and make recommendations and repairs,” JPL stated. “NASA will provide information on the board’s findings and next steps for returning the antenna to service after the federal government reopens.”
Prolonged outages of DSN's 70-meter antennas are not unprecedented. The 70-meter antenna in Australia, DSS-43, underwent upgrades for 11 months in 2020 and 2021, which prevented it from transmitting. This antenna is the only one capable of communicating with Voyager 2.
The loss of any DSN antenna puts increased strain on the network, which NASA has acknowledged is already facing heavy demand. An audit by the agency’s Office of Inspector General in 2023 found that the DSN “is currently oversubscribed and will continue to be overburdened by the demands created by an increasing number of deep space missions.”
The Artemis 1 mission in 2022, which utilized the DSN for communication with the Orion spacecraft and several cubesats, added to the strain. Other missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope, have had to adjust operations due to reduced network access. Suzanne Dodd, director of the interplanetary network directorate at JPL, noted that “When Artemis comes online, everybody else moves out of the way, and it’s an impact to all the science missions.” She also cited declining budgets for network maintenance as a concern, stating, “Looking out to the 2030s, that really scares us on the DSN.”