Scaling new heights

Early this November, ESA’s Deep Space Antenna in New Norcia, Australia, was subject to major maintenance, with a wide range of updates implemented to keep it in pristine order.

To communicate with ESA’s fleet of spacecraft, the position of the New Norcia antenna in Western Australia needs to be controlled with high accuracy. The huge 35-metre diameter antenna relies on gearboxes to alter its position, offering sweeping views of every inch of the sky, and it was time to replace these.

Scheduled maintenance of high-tech equipment also took place while the antenna power was off, as well as a series of frequency and timing enhancements, an upgrade of data routers and the installation of a new safety rail.