Overview
- The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex was evacuated after wildfires swept the area on Friday, July 24, and NASA said all onsite personnel were safe.
- Mission operations were shifted to Goldstone in California and to Canberra in Australia to preserve spacecraft links while Madrid remains inaccessible for safety checks.
- An initial NASA inspection on July 25 reported mainly pavement and vegetation damage at Madrid with no major structural harm to antennas or buildings, but full assessments are pending.
- The DSN now faces reduced capacity because Goldstone’s 70‑meter antenna has been offline since a 2025 over‑rotation accident, leaving Australia as the only operational 70‑meter dish if Madrid stays out of service.
- Beyond the station, the fires forced large civilian evacuations and major firefighting deployments in Spain and France, and the disruption could force tighter scheduling of antenna time and slower data returns for dozens of deep‑space missions.