The European Space Agency is set to open a deep space communication antenna in Spain to help track its soon-to-be-launched craft to Venus.
The space agency will inaugurate the 35-metre-diameter radio antenna in Cebreros, Spain, on 28 September, just in time for the October launch of its Venus Express spacecraft.
ESA opened its first 35-metre antenna in New Norcia, Australia, in 2002. It has been dedicated to tracking the Mars Express spacecraft, currently in orbit around the Red Planet.
The agency is also considering building a third antenna somewhere in the Pacific time zone in North or South America in 2009. This is because an optimised space communications network needs antennas positioned 120° from each other around the globe to keep spacecraft in sight as the Earth rotates.
Although located in Spain, the new antenna will be controlled remotely from ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
Besides Venus ...
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