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NASA's deep space centre just outside Canberra is undergoing renovations and having four new dishes installed.
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex at Tidbinbilla has already seen the construction of one 34 metre wide dish, with three more to come.
The dishes are made up of almost 400 tonnes of steel with precise measurements requiring a detailed installation.
But the centre's Glen Nagle says all the work is worth the effort.
"Over the next decade or so, there'll be actually more space craft in our field of view and more tracking time," he said.
"We simply need more ears to communicate with those vehicles."
The dishes cost $50 million each, but NASA says they are a bargain, well short of the estimated $500 million it would have cost to replace the 70 metre antenna put together decades ago.
Mr Nagle says advances in technology have helped with the development and transport of the new dishes.
"The biggest problem we have is getting the heavy material transported down from Sydney," he said.
"Because of the technology and the way it has moved on, [we are able to] build multiple smaller dishes to do the same job, creating greater flexibility and actually at a far better price."
The biggest dish at Tidbinbilla is not expected to retire anytime soon, though like any 40-year-old it has a few problems.
The big dish will not be excluded from the renovations, with crews repairing or replacing almost all 4,000 tonnes.
"Also repainting the dish surface," Mr Nagle said.
"In April next year it will turn 40, so a little bit of a facelift to keep it looking beautiful in the years to come."
Topics: states-and-territories, astronomy-space, act, canberra-2600
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