The Deep Space Network (DSN) is the backbone of deep-space communication, enabling tracking, commanding, and data reception from distant spacecraft and playing a critical role in missions like Artemis II.

JPL leads DSN operations, coordinating signals and data from robotic and crewed spacecraft as part of NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program.

Artemis II, launched on April 1, 2026 from Kennedy Space Center, is under close observation at JPL’s Space Flight Operations Facility as the mission unfolds.

DSN operations in support of Artemis II follow the launch, coordinating and managing ongoing communications and data transmission.

Initial contact with Artemis II came from NASA’s Near Space Network just after liftoff, before DSN took over sustained communications.

For more information on Artemis II, readers can consult NASA’s official Artemis II mission page.

Blanca Renteria, Artemis DSN operations chief, is pictured at JPL’s Space Flight Operations Facility monitoring real-time DSN data for Artemis II.

Technicians and staff at the Space Flight Operations Facility monitor and manage mission communications through the DSN.

The DSN comprises three complexes—Goldstone, Madrid, and Canberra—each with multiple antennas to support Artemis II and other solar-system missions.

JPL administers the DSN for NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program, under NASA Headquarters and the Space Operations Mission Directorate.

DSN-acquired signals marked a landmark moment as a crewed spacecraft in deep space communicated with the network for the first time in more than five decades.