After deciding that the remote Woomera site was not ideal for a deep space tracking station, the search began for an alternative site. By the 1960s the growth of the National Capital was considered to be occurring at too slow a pace and pressure was placed on the Australian Government to remedy the situation. The decision was made to locate a new tracking station in the Australian Capital Territory in an effort to promote growth in the region.

The Tidbinbilla valley, 35km south-west of Canberra, was chosen due to its close proximity to a growing city, with the surrounding ridges helping to shield it from unwanted radio interference.

Construction of the complex began in June 1963 with operations commencing in December 1964, in time to support the Mariner 4 spacecraft encounter with Mars. The centrepiece of the complex was the 26-metre antenna (Deep Space Station 42). Two years later a manned spaceflight wing was added to the complex to assist with the Apollo missions to the Moon. By 1970 the complex featured a power station, and facilities to manage the sewage and water supplies, while a cafeteria, and sleeping accommodation fed and housed the many workers on site. During early 1969 construction started on a new antenna. At 73 metres in height and weighing more than seven million kilograms, the then 64-metre antenna (Deep Space Station 43) took nearly four years to complete. The need for such an antenna was brought about by the increasing amounts of data received and the rapidly expanding distances that spacecraft were travelling. The new 64-metre antenna was more than six times as sensitive as the existing 26-metre antenna, and therefore could extend the useful lifetime of a spacecraft as its signal became weaker the further it was from Earth.

During the 1980s the Voyager spacecraft travelled billions of kilometres to investigate the ‘gas giants’ Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Over such distances, the signals from the spacecraft would be extremely weak and requiring more sophisticated equipment on Earth to receive them.

Consequently, in 1980 the 26-metre antenna was upgraded to become a 34-metre antenna, improving the surface of the dish and adding higher frequency receiving capabilities. Similarly in 1987, the 64-metre antenna was upgraded to 70 metres in diameter. Even today, the 70-metre antenna is the largest steerable parabolic antenna in the Southern Hemisphere.

In 1986 the construction of a new high efficiency 34-metre antenna (Deep Space Station 45) was completed to provide better reception at higher frequencies. The antenna was completed in time for the Voyager 2 encounter with Uranus, where it was used in conjunction with the 70-metre antenna to provide even greater sensitivity for the reception of signals.

+ Foreword
+ Overview
+ Birth of the
...Deep Space Network
+ Function

+ NASA in Australia
+ Woomera
+ Muchea
+ Carnarvon
+ Cooby Creek
+ Honeysuckle Creek
+ Orroral Valley
+ Tidbinbilla

+ Tidbinbilla Part 1 | Part 2

+ Deep Space Station 34
+ Deep Space Station 43
+ Deep Space Station 45
+ Deep Space Station 46
+ Tracking
+ Transmitting
+ Signal Processing
+ Timing Systems
+ Movement
+ Drive Systems

+ Personnel
...+ Operations
...+ Systems Engineering
...+ Antennas & Facilities
...+ Administration
+ CSIRO
+ NASA
+ Raytheon Australia
+ Visitor Centre

+ Terms & Meanings

+ NASA
+ JPL
+ DSN
+ CSIRO
+ Raytheon Australia
+ CDSCC