Uplink arraying analysis for NASA's Deep Space Network

Abstract

The Deep Space Network provides the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and partner organizations essential communication links to interplanetary and deep space robotic missions. Managed by NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate (SOMD), the challenge of maintaining this asset has led to several efforts to explore concepts of a distributed array of ground antennas to augment or replace current DSN antennas. This paper describes independent analysis by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory to evaluate several uplink array concepts under consideration by NASA/SOMD, including efforts by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and industry offerings for experimental approaches. The work details the analysis to validate the ability to form beams, achieve target gain patterns, and the sensitivities to array geometries and error sources. Also included are risk areas and potential techniques to address implementation and performance challenges.