Deep Space Network: The Next 50 Years

Abstract

In 2014, NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) celebrated its 50 th year of enabling exploration of the Moon, Solar System planets, and beyond. During those 50 years, the DSN has grown along with the associated spacecraft flight systems, providing some 13 orders of magnitude communications systems improvement. It has also contributed to many of the world's most important scientific discoveries and provided substantial technological spinoffs that have become part of everyday life on Earth. Studies of the next 25 years indicate that deep space missions will need an order of magnitude increased communications performance per decade -and this is likely to continue beyond that time. As exhibited by this meeting, another major change happening right now is the emergence of a standardized international community for tracking deep space missions. The future definitely involves increased international cooperation. This paper explains the near term plans already underway for the DSN. We also consider the plans and possibilities for deep space optical communications. Finally, we will discuss opportunities for international participation in the next 50 years of deep space exploration. NomenclatureBWG = Beam Waveguide CCSDS = Consultative Committee for Space Data System Standards DAEP = DSN Aperture Enhancement Project DC = Direct Current DSN = Deep Space Network DSOC = Deep Space Optical Communications DTN = Disruption Tolerant Networking DWDM = Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing ESA = European Space Agency ISRO = Indian Space Research Organization JAXA = Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency JPL = Jet Propulsion Laboratory LADEE = Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer LLCD = Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration MRO = Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter MRO = Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter QAM = Quadrature Amplitude Modulation QPSK = Quadrature Phase Shift Keying

NASA’s Deep Space Network and ESA’s Tracking Network Strategic Partnership to Enable Solar System Exploration

“…With these objectives, the first set of deep space tracking stations forming NASA's DSN, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, became operational in the early 1960 in time to support the first planetary mission, the Mariner 4 Mars flyby in 1964 [1]. The DSN has since been increasing the number of stations at each complex in its network and continually evolving in technical capabilities to meet increased requirements for higher data rates and radio-metric precision [2].…”

Integrating Cosmic Microwave Background Readings with Celestial Navigation to Enhance Deep Space Navigation

“…This ambitious roadmap underlines the importance of advancing deep space navigation capabilities, which remains a significant open problem in the field of astronautics [8]. The current navigation techniques for this scenario predominantly rely on Earth-based measurements to determine the spacecraft's position [9].…”

“…As humanity continues its quest to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos, the number of deep space missions has remarkably increased [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This surge in exploration is driven by an innate desire to understand our place in the Universe and seek solutions to Earth-bound challenges through the lens of space discovery.…”

The Deep Space Network: Enabling Richer Data Sets for Future Planetary Science Missions

“…(Further, Ka-band capabilities are relevant to current and future Radio or Gravity Science investigations, e.g., on Juno and BepiColombo,Asmar et al 2020).Over the past decade, the DSN has implemented a multiple spacecraft per aperture (MSPA) capability, allowing multiple simultaneous telecommunications links to spacecraft in the same…”