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NASA officials have completed an investigation into an incident that caused damage to a 70-meter radio frequency antenna last year.
The incident, which occurred at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, affected the space agency’s Deep Space Station 14 (DSS-14), a 70-meter radio-frequency antenna, which currently remains offline awaiting repairs and system upgrades.
Joel Montalbano, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, emphasized that the agency “takes safety and any departure from established procedures seriously,” adding that investigations into the incident at Goldstone “made clear that we must strengthen our processes. We are acting on the investigation’s findings.”
Incident at Goldstone
The damage was caused last September 16, 2025, when the antenna reportedly over-extended during rotation during tracking for NASA’s Juno mission. Stress on the antenna’s cabling and support infrastructure, as well as damage to its fire-suppression system, is expected to cost between $4.1 and $4.6 million in repairs.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported at the time of the incident, and a Mishap Investigation Board was convened to investigate the underlying causes. Following on-site inspections, interviews, and reviews of technical documentation from NASA’s three Deep Space Network facilities, the results of the investigation were included in a report submitted in April, which also made recommendations on how to prevent future incidents.
Software Issues
A primary factor behind the incident had been what the reports’ authors characterize as “software weaknesses, human error, and an undetected failure in the antenna’s hydraulic limit system,” according to a recent NASA statement.
“Investigators determined an electrical issue at the antenna the previous day caused the control system to misreport the antenna’s rotation state, an issue that went unnoticed and triggered multiple limit-stops during the Juno track,” the statement added.
Over-rotation of the antenna resulted after flooding in the antenna base was spotted by operators, following troubleshooting efforts that accidentally bypassed safeguards in the system’s hardware and software.
Investigators also determined that the antenna’s hydraulic limit system had already been rendered inoperable before the September 16 incident, following damage sustained “in an undocumented prior incident.”
Modernization for Future Missions
On June 5, Montalbano emphasized that NASA plans to follow the guidance in the review board’s report, with a focus on ensuring greater adherence to procedures to help limit the likelihood of future mishaps.
“We will update and improve procedures, rebuild core in-house capabilities, and reinforce operational discipline across the Deep Space Network,” Montalbano said.
“NASA remains focused on learning from this and modernizing systems, so DSS-14 and the broader network are ready to support our ambitious future missions,” he added.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.
