NASA leadership and staff, plus other important dignitaries, don gather for ceremonial ribbon-cutting on Aug. 25, 2026, to mark completion of new Deep Space Station 23 antenna, wey dem dey call DSS-23.
Dis new antenna na 34-meter (114-foot) beam-waveguide antenna, wey be di latest one wey dem add for Deep Space Network’s Aperture Enhancement Project. Di project start for 2009, and e dey aim to upgrade and expand di network by adding six new 34-meter multifrequency beam-waveguide antennas.
For di picture wey show di Goldstone complex near Barstow, California, five antennas dey soak for summer sun. DSS-23 dey foreground to di right. Di other three 34-meter antennas na DSS-26, DSS-25, and DSS-24, from left to right. For farthest right, there dey smaller 26-meter antenna wey dem don retire. Dem build am for 1967 as part of Manned Space Flight Network, and e get nickname ‘Apollo Antenna’ because e provide tracking for Apollo Program.
DSS-23 na versatile antenna wey fit enhance many missions wey dey operate for different radio frequencies. According to NASA, di DSN allow missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from faraway spacecraft.
Di Deep Space Network na critical infrastructure for space exploration. E dey managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for Southern California, wey be division of Caltech. Dem dey do am for Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program wey dey NASA Headquarters inside Research and Technology Mission Directorate.
