Jan 17, 2025 21:00:00

A giant antenna that was deactivated in the 1980s will be restarted and used to detect 'enemy ships in space'

A giant Australian antenna that was once used for NASA's moon landing program has started receiving radio waves again after about 40 years. The reactivated antenna will be used for military purposes to monitor 'enemy spacecraft in space.'

Carnarvon's NASA satellite dish receives first signal in almost 40 years - ABC News

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-03/carnarvon-nasa-dish-receives-signal-repairs/104672866

Repairs start on Carnarvon's historic NASA dish for a future in satellite tracking - ABC News
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-26/repairs-begin-carnarvon-historic-otc-dish-nasa-missions/102893882

The reactivated antenna is the OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon, located on the west coast of Australia. The OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon is a high-precision antenna that was used for NASA's moon landing program, but it was decommissioned in 1987.


This is OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon.

Even after its shutdown, OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon has become a popular tourist destination, and travel sites such as

TripAdvisor have information pages about it. However, before the restart plan began, it had problems such as 'a lot of pigeon droppings.'

The space development company

THOTHX is working on a plan to restart OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon. THOTHX signed a 20-year lease for OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon at the end of 2022 and began preparations for restart. For many years, OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon only made 'fine adjustments to the angle in preparation for bad weather,' but THOTHX has cleaned and maintained the antenna so that it can be freely adjusted.

The maintenance ranged from major tasks such as 'building a new back-end communication system' to detailed tasks such as 'cleaning pigeon droppings' and 'lubricating the antenna bearings,' and the first radio reception test in about 40 years was carried out in December 2024. During the test, a method was adopted in which 'the angle of the antenna was fine-tuned using an electric screwdriver instead of electronic devices.'

THOTHX plans to continue investing more than $10 million in antenna maintenance. The antenna will ultimately be used to identify 'enemy locations in space' and provide services to 'potential military-related customers.'