Construction is underway in Australia on ESA’s fourth 35 m deep-space antenna.

ESA’s deep-space antennas are used to send commands to and receive spacecraft information and science data from missions venturing far from Earth – to the Moon, the Sun, distant planets or even asteroids.

The three deep-space antennas in ESA’s global tracking station network – Estrack – are located roughly 120 degrees apart in longitude, at stations in Australia, Spain and Argentina. Together, they provide continuous coverage to spacecraft almost anywhere in the Solar System.

ESA is now constructing a fourth antenna in order to meet the rising demand for communication bandwidth as the Agency prepares and launches a new generation of deep-space missions. With global coverage already achieved, the decision was made to build a second deep-space antenna at the existing New Norcia site in Australia.