ESA’s 35 m-diameter deep-space tracking station at New Norcia, Australia, seen during a dramatic sunset, 11 November 2014.
In March 2003, ESA inaugurated a new deep-space ground tracking station 8 km south of the town of New Norcia, which is about 150 km north of Perth, in Western Australia.
The large, 35 m-diameter antenna was completed in 2002, and engineers conducted pointing tests using NASA’s Stardust mission in the lead up to operational readiness. It entered service as the first of the Agency’s three deep-space ground tracking stations in March 2003, and has been used for communications with Mars Express, Rosetta, Venus Express and Gaia, among other ESA and partner agency missions.