A live visualization of NASA's Deep Space Network — the array of giant radio antennas that humanity uses to communicate with spacecraft across the solar system.
Everything here is real. Three ground stations in California, Spain, and Australia take turns talking to every active mission, from rovers on Mars to Voyager at the edge of interstellar space. Data updates every five seconds.
Reading the display
Gold — transmitting to spacecraft.
Blue — receiving data.
Green — two-way link.
Gray — idle.
Spacecraft are plotted by distance with recognizable silhouettes for known missions. Horizontal lines mark planet distances for reference. Waveforms along active connections show signal band and data rate.
Interact
Hover or tap spacecraft and stations for details. Click a spacecraft to send a light pulse at proportional speed — Moon in ~1.3 seconds, Voyager in over 23 hours. Click a planet marker to see which spacecraft orbit it. The ♪ button toggles ambient audio — each active signal gets a soft tone pitched by distance.
Over time
Spacecraft stay visible for 24 hours after last contact. As Earth rotates and stations hand off targets, the sky fills up. Check back later to see more.