NASA's Deep Space Network Is In Dire Need Of An Upgrade

NASA’s Deep Space Network is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure the agency has access to. This group of radio antennas around the world is responsible for the communication and navigation support for nearly 60 NASA and international space missions. This includes the Mars Rover, James Webb Space Telescope, Voyager spacecraft, and many others.

Unfortunately, this system is only capable of so much, and the number of deep space missions has been increasing rapidly. This has put more pressure on the system than ever before and it will only get worse unless the agency steps in. A recent investigation by the NASA Office of Inspector General revealed the extent to which this system is being overworked.

NASA relies on its Deep Space Network (DSN) to provide communication links that guide and control spacecraft and bring back images and other data from missions. Without it, a lot of multi-million and billion-dollar space projects would simply become floating pieces of metal. Here I will go more in-depth into the current problem NASA is facing, possible solutions, the impact on upcoming missions, and more.

Credit:

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:56 - Overwhelmed
4:04 - Possible Solutions

[mt-qcqh]

NASA needs to offload the lunar comm to a separate relay and not tax the DSN because of increased growth there. Perhaps the same would be feasible for the JWST as well. It's too taxing on the existing infrastructure. Solve the bigger issues first, not just build out the same old.

[fleshwere]

Things like these make me think I'll die before any cool major advancements in the space industry because of things like the world's antenna networks being oversubscribed meaning in someway progress will be slower and achieving of advancements not fast enough for my lifetime.

[Hoopaball]

I pick answer B.
Starlink V2.0 satellites can pick up a 3GHz data transmission from a cell on the surface, through the atmosphere, in space. Wireless transmissions are dependent on the size of the receiver vs transmitters.
With phased array transmitters and large receiving antennas in orbit, such as V2.0, there's no technical reason this can't be handled from orbit.
Starlink as an orbital phased array could easily serve as a DSN. NASA should push photonics for lunar comms if SpaceX isn't already.

[satchell]

At least have a video title that reads "Video Title || 8 Minutes of Space"

[philsmycrevice]

We blow too much money on space exploration anyways don't we? If it's not health experiments or health research that could be done in near earth orbit, what's the great benefit?

[wingsley]

I do not understand why NASA and its international partners can't develop a "deep space network" of satellite antennas in geostationary orbit of the Earth. Do the antenna dishes have to be that huge? Is that the hurdle?

[MyKharli]

Wasting too much money on human based willy waving endeavors way before were ready . Basic science, object detection and robot explorations should be a priority

[stuartperry]

Why not build an orbital deep space dish network using Starship cargo capacity.

[Wildboy]

why rely on NASA for everything... maybe the multibillion$ projects should invest a few mil to make their own systems