Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
4.5
Temporarily closedClosed until further notice
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
Full view
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and nearby attractions
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
1 within 5 kms
Attractions
16 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
488 reviews
Excellent
247
Very good
183
Average
45
Poor
9
Terrible
4
Brian E
Melbourne, Australia166 contributions
Jan 2022 • Family
In a time when domestic travel has boomed at the end 2021 and with many opting to travel in Australia one would think this facility could get it right and open up. Nope. Despite many continuing to arrive into the car park not a discovery centre or cafe open.
One could wonder from the car park. That was all.
Canberra closed for business?
One could wonder from the car park. That was all.
Canberra closed for business?
Written 6 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bob M
Melbourne, Australia394 contributions
Apr 2021
Cannot say too much about this facility as we could only take photos from the outside.
We arrived after driving 42km from Canberra on a windy road with a lot of roadworks & cyclists to find the space centre "temporarily closed". The information Centre advised us that this was open. Needless to say we were not impressed & such a waste of 84km & a good part of a day.
We arrived after driving 42km from Canberra on a windy road with a lot of roadworks & cyclists to find the space centre "temporarily closed". The information Centre advised us that this was open. Needless to say we were not impressed & such a waste of 84km & a good part of a day.
Written 26 April 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rafi
23 contributions
Jan 2020
The site has two parts to it really. The first is of course the collection of enormous communications dishes of the deep space listening facility which is you can look at from close up. There is also a monitor screen where you can see the listening schedule and what is currently active. Very cool if you are into this kind of thing. Alongside is a free visitors center with displays explaining the work of the listening station, and telling the history of space exploration in general. Exhibits include space suits, a Mars rover and scale models of space probes. Good for both children and adults for a half to one hour visit. There is also a cafeteria in the visitors' center.
Written 30 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are glad you enjoyed your visit.
Written 27 March 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Mel S
Frankston, Australia25 contributions
Jan 2015 • Family
This place was amazing, it is one of only 3 tracking facilties in the world responsible for providing two-way radio contact with unmaned spacecraft exploring our solar syatem. Just seeing one of the radio antennas in person is awesome, the vistor centre shows Australia's role in space exploration. Some of the highlights were seeing an actual piece of moon rock, real space hardware,astronaut food and spacesuits, a full scale replica of the mars rover. The countdown clock with the next launch on it the kids thought was great.
Definately one of the highlights of our trip.
Definately one of the highlights of our trip.
Written 19 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
George
United States24 contributions
Mar 2020
Not really much info about what they actually do there now but you do get deeper understanding of space and history. But it focuses the latter.
Written 12 May 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
deirodeir
Bangor, UK143 contributions
Feb 2018 • Couples
We spotted the satellite dishes from the main road and couldn't resist a visit. If you wonder why they are deep in the valley and not on top of the hill, you can find out here.
Apart from close-up views of the dishes and explanations of how they work and their structure, there are displays of astronaut outfits, genuine moon rock and the details of food and how the toilet works, all included along with the real scientific displays, so something to suit all tastes.
The cafe is very good and has outdoor seating.
My only quibble is the too-small gift shop which comprises a few shelves beside the cafe, and only had sort of scientific games for children. I would have liked something that featured the name of the Deep Space centre like key rings, tie-pins, etc. My grandson would have loved an article with that name on it but there was nothing suitable.
To avoid interference with alien signals, you are asked to turn off mobile phones on the road in. So no wifi.
Apart from close-up views of the dishes and explanations of how they work and their structure, there are displays of astronaut outfits, genuine moon rock and the details of food and how the toilet works, all included along with the real scientific displays, so something to suit all tastes.
The cafe is very good and has outdoor seating.
My only quibble is the too-small gift shop which comprises a few shelves beside the cafe, and only had sort of scientific games for children. I would have liked something that featured the name of the Deep Space centre like key rings, tie-pins, etc. My grandson would have loved an article with that name on it but there was nothing suitable.
To avoid interference with alien signals, you are asked to turn off mobile phones on the road in. So no wifi.
Written 10 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ziyalkim
Canberra, Australia9 contributions
Nov 2016 • Friends
I have been visiting the CDSCC since I was 10 years old and its importance and quiet achievements never fail to take my beath away. Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, unlike so many others, continues to change and bring us new information in exciting ways, and never appears to stagnate. Not only does the visitors centre continue to evolve, but the CDSCC is ever expanding, building new telescopes and giving us more and more glimpses into our universe to which visitors can access. After nearly 30 years, this place feels like an old friend. And I'm proud of its significant role in, among other thing, communicating with our vessels in deep space. I always look forward to my next visit so I can be a child all over again. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a CDSCC Open Day, I strongly recommend it. Otherwise you'll never realise how much you've missed.
Written 7 February 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rodrigoelp
Sydney, Australia259 contributions
Dec 2016 • Friends
I have mixed feelings with this complex because I am a huge space freak, and the visitor centre has a lot of information and displays about the apollo, mercury missions... but I have been to other space related stations in the past and I think the one in Parkes was a lot better in my humble opinion.
So, the description of this complex:
A short drive from Canberra you will find this complex, which sole purpose is to communication with different probes in space. The complex is owned by NASA (a fact I did not know) and the main antenna is moved every hour or so.
In the complex, you will find some exhibits of the apollo and mercury missions (very interesting stuff) with some minor additions to other exploration projects that are more recent. If you are American you might get wet dreams about all this, although I doubt it as any space museum in the States has a better display; but other than posing for a picture in a space suit, admiring the dish moving, or stare at some of the probe models there isn't much to do here... again, if you are a space freak like me.
If you haven't been to any radio telescope or deep space communication complex then I recommended, but I was sort of let down with this one.
The cafe next to the complex isn't good. We decided to stop for coffee and I could totally tell the temperature of the machine was too high as it smelled burnt. We also had a dessert which was tasty but not fresh (so it was a bit chewy).
My missus took out the camera, capturing different angles of the main dish as it moved. The dishes are very interesting but there is a general lack of information about what which dish is doing.
Conclusion?
I was a nice visit, but I was a bit disappointed. I know this complex is just used to communication with anything further away from the moon, but the information that is available is mainly related to the early space race. There is a video somewhere about New Horizons and the lovely picture of pluto... but it would be awesome they show stuff about Dawn (which I honestly don't recall seeing anything around) or Juno.
There is two models of Cassini and Galileo space probes, very little information about it. Wouldn't be awesome to have a detailed description of its instruments, how long it took to build and any risk associated with it so people can fully understand how hard to plan for a project like this?
Don't get me wrong, it is totally worth it if you love space and want to bring your kid along, but I explained a lot more things to my friends than anything on the display. But it does need a lot more nerds around poking on the defects to make it great.
So, the description of this complex:
A short drive from Canberra you will find this complex, which sole purpose is to communication with different probes in space. The complex is owned by NASA (a fact I did not know) and the main antenna is moved every hour or so.
In the complex, you will find some exhibits of the apollo and mercury missions (very interesting stuff) with some minor additions to other exploration projects that are more recent. If you are American you might get wet dreams about all this, although I doubt it as any space museum in the States has a better display; but other than posing for a picture in a space suit, admiring the dish moving, or stare at some of the probe models there isn't much to do here... again, if you are a space freak like me.
If you haven't been to any radio telescope or deep space communication complex then I recommended, but I was sort of let down with this one.
The cafe next to the complex isn't good. We decided to stop for coffee and I could totally tell the temperature of the machine was too high as it smelled burnt. We also had a dessert which was tasty but not fresh (so it was a bit chewy).
My missus took out the camera, capturing different angles of the main dish as it moved. The dishes are very interesting but there is a general lack of information about what which dish is doing.
Conclusion?
I was a nice visit, but I was a bit disappointed. I know this complex is just used to communication with anything further away from the moon, but the information that is available is mainly related to the early space race. There is a video somewhere about New Horizons and the lovely picture of pluto... but it would be awesome they show stuff about Dawn (which I honestly don't recall seeing anything around) or Juno.
There is two models of Cassini and Galileo space probes, very little information about it. Wouldn't be awesome to have a detailed description of its instruments, how long it took to build and any risk associated with it so people can fully understand how hard to plan for a project like this?
Don't get me wrong, it is totally worth it if you love space and want to bring your kid along, but I explained a lot more things to my friends than anything on the display. But it does need a lot more nerds around poking on the defects to make it great.
Written 2 January 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter B
Woody Point, Australia189 contributions
Sept 2016 • Couples
This is our closest connection with NASA and we were encapsulated by the displays and information. The café was intimate with a terrace and good food. Please note, there is very little or no mobile coverage here. The reason? This is a working highly equipment sensitive facility. Not a place for pokemon players. Growing up in the space race era I relived some of the events of that time. Check it out.
Written 23 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Deborah H
Canberra, Australia3 contributions
Mar 2016 • Couples
We were out driving last weekend and got hungry. I knew there was a café at the Deep Space Communication centre so we went there.
Cue stunning view of the complex from the road on the way in. We stopped for photos. The countryside is so green at the moment and the huge white dishes looked amazing in the setting.
As we were hungry, we went straight to the café and sat at a table that looked out the window right up close and personal with the largest dish. I was in Nerd Heaven. And, to top it off, there were burgers! Nerd Heaven and Nerdvana! I may have squeaked.
I have to say, the steak burger I had that day was the best one I have ever had. Beautiful fresh bun with just a touch of crisp on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside. Melt in the mouth steak, fresh, crisp salad and beetroot. It's not a burger without beetroot. I think we'll go back there one day soon just for lunch.
The museum/information centre isn't large but it is interesting. Some stunning photos, lots of information on the exhibits, and a well informed and cheerfully helpful educator on site. If he didn't know the answer he knew where to find it. We came home and discovered a couple of new websites after our visit with lots of good information on them.
To top it all off, they moved the biggest dish! While we were there!
Great visit for amateurs nerd.
Cue stunning view of the complex from the road on the way in. We stopped for photos. The countryside is so green at the moment and the huge white dishes looked amazing in the setting.
As we were hungry, we went straight to the café and sat at a table that looked out the window right up close and personal with the largest dish. I was in Nerd Heaven. And, to top it off, there were burgers! Nerd Heaven and Nerdvana! I may have squeaked.
I have to say, the steak burger I had that day was the best one I have ever had. Beautiful fresh bun with just a touch of crisp on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside. Melt in the mouth steak, fresh, crisp salad and beetroot. It's not a burger without beetroot. I think we'll go back there one day soon just for lunch.
The museum/information centre isn't large but it is interesting. Some stunning photos, lots of information on the exhibits, and a well informed and cheerfully helpful educator on site. If he didn't know the answer he knew where to find it. We came home and discovered a couple of new websites after our visit with lots of good information on them.
To top it all off, they moved the biggest dish! While we were there!
Great visit for amateurs nerd.
Written 4 March 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
How do you get there using public transport. Is there any way so that you don't have to use a taxi or uber?
Thanks
Written 10 February 2018
You cannot get there by public transport! I suggest you hire a car for the day.
Written 11 February 2018
Is it worth driving the distance? Any comparison to the Smithsonian in Washington DC?
Written 9 July 2015
It is worth the drive but obviously no comparison to the Smithsonian as that gets more funding but if you are into deep space communications and exploration and sci fi like dr who Star Trek and Star Wars and deep space photography then this is you , personally I loved the experience and I've visited the Skylab crash site and museum but hey I am into deep space SETI and NASA research and to note without this deep space centre NSA deep space and shuttle launches wouldn't be possible it is the modern eqivilant of "The Dish" lol
Written 10 July 2015
Showing results 1-3 of 3
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing