Overview

• NASA’s Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex marked its 60th anniversary on March 19, 2025, highlighting decades of contributions to space exploration.
• Construction has begun on Deep Space Station 33, a 112-foot-wide antenna designed to handle increasing data demands from current and future missions.
• Scheduled to become operational in 2029, the new antenna is the final addition under NASA’s Deep Space Network Aperture Enhancement Program.
• The Canberra facility is uniquely positioned to communicate with Voyager 2, the only complex capable of sending commands to the spacecraft as it travels through interstellar space.
• NASA is also advancing laser-based optical communications, aiming to complement traditional radio frequencies for higher data transmission rates in future missions.