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Malargüe Station (also known as DSA 3 or Deep Space Antenna 3) is a 35-metre
Due to its location far from the large antennas of the
ESA webpage on ESTRACK, including links to all stations
ESA webcam at Malargüe Station
ESTRACK facilities 2012 establishments in Argentina Buildings and structures completed in 2012 Buildings and structures in Mendoza Province {{space-stub
ESTRACK
The European Space Tracking (ESTRACK) network consists of a number of ground-based space-tracking stations belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA), and operated by the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The st ...
radio
Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
antenna in Argentina. It enables the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...
(ESA) to communicate with spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...
in deep space. It is located south of the town of Malargüe
Malargüe () is a city in the southwest part of the province of Mendoza, Argentina, about 370 km south of the provincial capital Mendoza. It is the head town of the Malargüe Department, and it has about 27,000 inhabitants as per the .
Et ...
, Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. The Malargüe antenna has two sister stations, Cebreros Station, near Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
, Spain, and New Norcia Station
New Norcia Station (also known as NNO) is an ESTRACK Earth stations in Australia, Earth station in Australia for communication with spacecraft after launch, in low Earth orbit, in geostationary orbit and in deep space. It is located south of ...
near New Norcia, Western Australia
New Norcia () is a town in Western Australia, north of Perth, near the Great Northern Highway. It is situated next to the banks of the Moore River, in the Shire of Victoria Plains. New Norcia is the only monastic town in Australia, with its Ben ...
. The completion of this station allows ESTRACK to track deep space missions continuously.
On 7 December 2011, the station's 35 m-diameter dish antenna was hoisted into place. The operation took several hours and had to wait for a calm day with no wind. The station underwent tests in 2012 and was fully operational in 2013.
Malargüe Station was one of the stations providing communications, tracking and data download from the Rosetta spacecraft.
20kW CW High Power Amplifier (HPA) it was created by Rheinmetall Italia S.p.A. (Italy). The monitoring and control system was implemented by Microsis srl (Italy). A 500W ASI Ka transmitter (Italian Space Agency) has been installed for Ka band transmission experiments carried out jointly with NASA. The transmitter was made by Rheinmetall Italia S.p.A. (Italy) and Microsis srl (Italy).
Scientific use
Due to its location far from the large antennas of the NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
network for Very-long-baseline interferometry
Very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) is a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy. In VLBI a signal from an astronomical radio source, such as a quasar, is collected at multiple radio telescopes on Earth or in space. T ...
(VLBI) , Malargüe Station is particularly able to contribute to the location of astronomical radio sources in the Southern hemisphere.See also
* Espacio Lejano Station, a similar station in Argentina that is part of theChinese Deep Space Network
The Chinese Deep Space Network (CDSN) is a network of large antennas and communication facilities that are used for radio astronomy, radar observations, and spacecraft missions of China. The CDSN is managed by the China Satellite Launch and Trac ...
.
References
External links
ESA webpage on ESTRACK, including links to all stations
ESA webcam at Malargüe Station
ESTRACK facilities 2012 establishments in Argentina Buildings and structures completed in 2012 Buildings and structures in Mendoza Province {{space-stub