Overview
- NASA ordered a full evacuation of the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex on July 24, 2026 and confirmed that all on-site personnel were safe.
- The agency transferred mission support to its Goldstone, California, complex to maintain continuous links to spacecraft while Madrid remains offline.
- Officials say any damage to Madrid’s 70-meter antennas will be assessed only when it is safe to return to the site; social-media photos and local reports showed fire and smoke near the dishes.
- The move increases strain on global DSN capacity because Goldstone’s largest 70-meter antenna was damaged in a September 2025 mishap and Australia currently hosts the only other operational 70-meter dish.
- Large wildfires driving the evacuation are part of a broader Spain and France fire crisis that has forced mass civilian evacuations and stretched emergency resources, and the next developments to watch are the Madrid damage survey and how long DSN operations must rely on Goldstone and Canberra.