Most of us don't leave home without our mobile phones. How does a spacecraft or a rover keep in touch? On a very basic level, you need a transmitter and receiver at either end of the call. For space missions you need receivers around the globe to maintain a connection with spacecraft as the Earth rotates.
Helping NASA explore the Solar System and beyond
We have operated and managed NASA's Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) since 2010. The complex is one of three that make up NASA's Deep Space Network, responsible for providing around-the-clock contact with more than 40 spacecraft, including missions to study Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, comets, the Moon and the Sun.
The sister complexes are located at Goldstone in California, USA, and near Madrid in Spain. The teams that operate the antennas rotate shifts across the 24 hour period, taking it in turns to operate the entire network during their daylight hours. This is referred to as 'Follow the Sun' operations.
There are four active antennas at the Canberra complex – one 70m and three 34m radio dishes that receive data from, and transmit commands to, spacecraft on deep space missions. A new 34m antenna is under construction and will increase the capacity of the Deep Space Network to support current and future spacecraft and the increased volume of data they produce.
Operating antennas for the European Space Agency
Since 2019, we have operated the European Space Agency's New Norcia ground station, 130km from Perth. Similar to NASA's Deep Space Network, ESA's Estrack network has three deep space stations – New Norcia, Cebreros in Spain, and Malargue in Argentina. The European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, remotely controls interplanetary and astronomy spacecraft and Earth-orbiting satellites via the Estrack network. In addition to tracking ESA missions, the network regularly provides support to NASA and other international space agencies.
Two 35m antennas at the station provide support to ESA's missions exploring our Solar System and observing our galaxy and Universe. They track mission locations, send control commands, and reliably receive scientific data gathered hundreds of millions of kilometres from Earth.
In addition to supporting ESA missions, the station provides tracking support to scientific and interplanetary missions operated by other space agencies like NASA and Japan's JAXA.
Using NNO2, its smaller, 4.5m diameter antenna, the New Norcia station also provides critical tracking services for Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launchers lifting off from Europe's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.
Radio telescopes providing ground station services
We have been supporting space missions since 1962 when Murriyang, our Parkes radio telescope, tracked the first interplanetary space mission, Mariner 2, as it flew by the planet Venus.
Murriyang isn't the only CSIRO telescope to have supported space missions. In 1995, the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) tracked the Galileo Probe as it descended through the atmosphere of Jupiter.
With the increasing number of space missions, there are a growing number of commercial space companies establishing ground station networks to take the load off traditional deep space communication networks.
Intuitive Machines is one of several commercial companies contracted by NASA to lead robotic lunar missions under the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Murriyang is part of Intuitive Machines' Space Data Network to support their lunar missions.
The first of these, IM-1, delivered NASA and commercial science experiments and technology demonstrations to the Moon's south polar region in 2024. Our team operating Murriyang provided crucial downlink support when their Odysseus lander came to rest at an angle significantly reducing its communication capabilities.
Our radio telescopes are valuable for spacecraft tracking due to their large collecting area and advanced data acquisition systems. Operating as a ground station for space missions complements the astronomy research conducted with these telescopes and helps maintain these world-class research instruments.
Most of us don't leave home without our mobile phones. How does a spacecraft or a rover keep in touch? On a very basic level, you need a transmitter and receiver at either end of the call. For space missions you need receivers around the globe to maintain a connection with spacecraft as the Earth rotates.
Helping NASA explore the Solar System and beyond
We have operated and managed NASA's Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) since 2010. The complex is one of three that make up NASA's Deep Space Network, responsible for providing around-the-clock contact with more than 40 spacecraft, including missions to study Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, comets, the Moon and the Sun.
The sister complexes are located at Goldstone in California, USA, and near Madrid in Spain. The teams that operate the antennas rotate shifts across the 24 hour period, taking it in turns to operate the entire network during their daylight hours. This is referred to as 'Follow the Sun' operations.
There are four active antennas at the Canberra complex – one 70m and three 34m radio dishes that receive data from, and transmit commands to, spacecraft on deep space missions. A new 34m antenna is under construction and will increase the capacity of the Deep Space Network to support current and future spacecraft and the increased volume of data they produce.
Operating antennas for the European Space Agency
Since 2019, we have operated the European Space Agency's New Norcia ground station, 130km from Perth. Similar to NASA's Deep Space Network, ESA's Estrack network has three deep space stations – New Norcia, Cebreros in Spain, and Malargue in Argentina. The European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, remotely controls interplanetary and astronomy spacecraft and Earth-orbiting satellites via the Estrack network. In addition to tracking ESA missions, the network regularly provides support to NASA and other international space agencies.
Two 35m antennas at the station provide support to ESA's missions exploring our Solar System and observing our galaxy and Universe. They track mission locations, send control commands, and reliably receive scientific data gathered hundreds of millions of kilometres from Earth.
In addition to supporting ESA missions, the station provides tracking support to scientific and interplanetary missions operated by other space agencies like NASA and Japan's JAXA.
Using NNO2, its smaller, 4.5m diameter antenna, the New Norcia station also provides critical tracking services for Ariane, Soyuz and Vega launchers lifting off from Europe's Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana.
Radio telescopes providing ground station services
We have been supporting space missions since 1962 when Murriyang, our Parkes radio telescope, tracked the first interplanetary space mission, Mariner 2, as it flew by the planet Venus.
Murriyang isn't the only CSIRO telescope to have supported space missions. In 1995, the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) tracked the Galileo Probe as it descended through the atmosphere of Jupiter.
With the increasing number of space missions, there are a growing number of commercial space companies establishing ground station networks to take the load off traditional deep space communication networks.
Intuitive Machines is one of several commercial companies contracted by NASA to lead robotic lunar missions under the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Murriyang is part of Intuitive Machines' Space Data Network to support their lunar missions.
The first of these, IM-1, delivered NASA and commercial science experiments and technology demonstrations to the Moon's south polar region in 2024. Our team operating Murriyang provided crucial downlink support when their Odysseus lander came to rest at an angle significantly reducing its communication capabilities.
Our radio telescopes are valuable for spacecraft tracking due to their large collecting area and advanced data acquisition systems. Operating as a ground station for space missions complements the astronomy research conducted with these telescopes and helps maintain these world-class research instruments.