Cost and reliability study for a large array of small reflector antennas for JPL/NASA Deep Space Network (DSN)

A study performed to estimate the cost of an array of small aperture reflector antennas to be used instead of or in conjunction with the current large reflector antennas of the JPL/NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) is described. The arrays are used for servicing present and future NASA missions that involve smaller spacecraft with limited power and smaller, lower-gain antennas. The advantages of the array configuration in terms of cost and reliability are discussed. A probabilistic determination of the reliability and availability of the array as a function of the number of array elements and the availability of individual array elements is made. The impact of additional marginal elements on the operational availability of the array is studied. Parametric cost and reliability plots are presented and directions for further investigation are outlined.