The DSN is indeed facing an upcoming crunch. There was a blurb in the In Orbit section of the May 14, 2001 issue of AW&ST:

DEEP SPACE UPGRADES

NASA is spending $54 million on upgrades to the Deep Space Network over the next 2 1/2 years to prepare the worldwide array of big ground receivers for a growing data load. Included in that amount $33 million for a new 34-meter dish at the DSN site near Madrid. To be built by Schwartz-Hautmont Construcciones Metalicas S.A., of Tarragona, Spain, the new antenna will feature beam-waveguide technology like the newer dishes across DSN, and will add about 70 hr. of tracking time each week to handle data from Mars, where expects to have two rovers operating early in 2004. Other improvements include processing gear that will allow DNS to operate its 34-meter dishes at Madrid and Canberra as arrays. The agency has also launched a study to see if the U.S. network can be expanded an international operation to increase capacity ( AW&ST Apr. 16, p. 23).

Alex R. Blackwell
University of Hawaii