The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC), in Spanish and officially Complejo de Comunicaciones de Espacio Profundo de Madrid, is a satellite ground station located in Robledo de Chavela, Spain, and operated by the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA).^[1] Part of the Deep Space Network (DSN) of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), along with its two sister stations at Goldstone, California and Canberra, Australia it is used for tracking and communicating with NASA's spacecraft, particularly interplanetary missions. The DSN and the Near Space Network (NSN) are services of the NASA Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN).^[2]

This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. (September 2017)

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Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex

Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex (MDSCC)
Alternative names	MDSCC
Organization	INTA / NASA / JPL
Location	Robledo de Chavela (near Madrid), Spain
Coordinates	40°25′45″N 4°14′57″W
Altitude	720 m
Established	1961
Website	www.mdscc.nasa.gov
Telescopes	DSS 53 DSS 54 DSS 55 DSS 56 DSS 63 DSS 65
Location of Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex
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The MDSCC is part of NASA's Deep Space Network run by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.^[3] The facility contributes to the Deep Space Network's mission to provide the vital two-way communications link that tracks and controls interplanetary spacecraft and receives the images and scientific information they collect. The complex is one of three NASA Deep Space Network complexes in the world, located at separations of approximately 120° longitude so that a spacecraft will always be in sight of at least one station; the others are the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex located in California, near the city of Barstow, and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Australia which is close to the city of Canberra.^[4]

The complex also serves some missions of the European Space Agency.

The antennas and data delivery systems make it possible to:

• Acquire telemetry data from spacecraft.
• Transmit commands to spacecraft.
• Track spacecraft position and velocity.
• Perform Radio Astronomy (both single-dish and very-long-baseline interferometry) observations.
• Measure variations in radio waves for radio science experiments.
• Monitor and control the performance of the Deep Space Network.

The complex has eight large parabolic antennas, called DSS-61, DSS-54, DSS-55, DSS-56, DSS-63, DSS-65 and DSS-66.^[5]

• Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA)
• RT-70