Return of Deep Space in Weilheim Ground Station

Abstract

Operations of deep space spacecraft depend strongly on the availability of respective communication assets. Large aperture antennas are available mainly in the hands of agencies such as NASA, ESA and JAXA, with a few more scattered in other agencies and commercial operators, however in terms of increasing requirements and needs the availability is scarce. The Weilheim 30m antenna has been constructed in the early ’70s, that time for the joint NASADLR mission HELIOS. Since than it has been used less and less, until complete cease of operations. First with the advent of the Galileo program, a new need for precise signal measurement and alidation was identified, which enabled a major mechanical overhaul in 2008. An increasing interest in large aperture reflectors over the last years brought the 30m antenna in Weilheim back to the focus. With this increasing interest DLR decided to upgrade the antenna, with the aim of being able to fully support deep space missions in the near future. Therefore, the antenna must be modified to achieve the best possible antenna performance in X-band while maintaining the L-band capability for in-orbit testing. Searching for best outcome with available resources, we came up with herein presented concept. Starting point of our considerations was is finite-elements and hybrid simulations, which were not possible in that extent some years ago and are still pushing the simulation tools to the limit. Apart from the technical antenna upgrade, there is a number of aspects which will need to be addressed in parallel. Starting from the antenna booking procedures, definition and implementation of antenna configuration in the operational phase, up to the integration inside the multi-mission environment and the newly introduced automation system. Additionally, the integration of the antenna in international networks and partnerships will pose significant effort but also open new possibilities for the community, giving favourable deep space communication capacity.