JPL’s newest Deep Space Network Antenna to be Operational in 2025

Aerodyne’s first Construction Subcontract nears Completion

April 13, 2021, was a major milestone in Aerodyne’s storied history, our first construction subcontract, with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to build Deep Space Station (DSS)-23, a new, fully steerable 34-meter dish antenna for NASA Deep Space Network (DSN), had become reality.

Four years later, this major project rising from the sands of the Mojave Desert at JPL’s Goldstone Complex in California will be operational.

It represents a future in which more missions will require advanced technology, such as lasers capable of transmitting vast amounts of data from astronauts on Mars.

Using massive antenna dishes, NASA “talks” to more than 30 deep space missions on any given day, including many international missions. When completed, DSS-23 will bring the DSN's number of operational antennas to 13.

While DSS-23 will function as a radio frequency communication antenna, it will also be equipped with mirrors and a special receiver for lasers communication from distant spacecraft. This technology is critical for sending astronauts to Mars and beyond.

“All of the major components have arrived and we are in the final phase of construction,” said Sey Ghamari, VP of Program Management and the Project’s Manager. “When operational, this antenna of the Deep Space Network will be an indispensable link to explorers venturing beyond Earth.”

The transmitter and receiver platforms inside the massive structure.

An artist’s conception of the Deep Space Station 23 Antenna at the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone, CA complex.