Deep Space Network - Network Limitations and Challenges

Network Limitations and Challenges

There are a number of limitations to the current DSN, and a number of challenges going forward.

• There is only one DSN site in the Southern Hemisphere, Canberra. There are no other DSN network dishes in South America or Southern Africa, so the DSN coverage of the Southern Hemisphere is limited.
• The need to support "legacy" missions that have remained operational beyond their original lifetimes but are still returning scientific data. Programs such as Voyager have been operating long past their original mission termination date. They also need some of the largest antennas.
• The DSN has deferred maintenance of its 70m antennas. In general the DSN has deferred major upkeep events of its antennas since the 1990s, when it comes to replacing major components. This causes problems as it leaves the antennas out of service for months at a time. Furthermore, the antennas are reaching the end of their lives. At some point many of the DSN antennas will need to be replaced. The leading candidate is an array of smaller dishes.
• By 2020, the DSN may be required to support twice the number of missions it was supporting in 2005. The 2007–present global economic crisis has limited the number of new missions somewhat. However, due to decay and lack of replacement of the existing antennas increased mission support will continue to be an ongoing problem.