Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is an Australian ground station located at Tidbinbilla in the Australian Capital Territory.

It opened in 1965, the complex was used for tracking the Apollo Lunar Module.

The Big Dishes

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) features a number of big dish antennas that are required daily to receive data from; and transmit commands to; a wide variety of spacecraft.

Deep Space Stations

The antennas are known as Deep Space Stations (DSS) and are identified by a number. Each location around the world has it own set of similar antennas: In the United States, antennas are numbered in the 10s and 20s series; in Australia antennas are in the 30s and 40s and in Spain the 50s and 60s. This is a simple shorthand way to easily identify an antenna at each site.

CDSCC currently has four active (2016) antennas:
DSS-34 (34-metre) DSS-43 (70-metre) DSS-45 (34-metre) DSS-35 (34-metre)

Canberra Space Centre
The Canberra Space Centre (CSC) is located on the grounds of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) at Tidbinbilla, about 35kms southwest of the city of Canberra.