NASA completes restoration of Guam communications station after Typhoon Mawar
The Guam Remote Station’s central antenna returned to service on 1 July, restoring its role in closing a critical coverage gap for spacecraft in low Earth orbit.
NASA has marked the full restoration of its Guam Remote Station, more than three years after Super Typhoon Mawar damaged the site. The agency held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 10 September to recognise the completion of the recovery.
The station’s central antenna returned to service on 1 July, completing the final stage of a rebuild that began in summer 2025 and finished in summer 2026, according to NASA.
For nearly three decades, Guam has been one of three ground stations supporting NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. These satellites link spacecraft in low Earth orbit with ground controllers, supporting communications with astronauts, spacecraft commands and the receipt of mission data.
NASA says the typhoon reopened the Near Space Network’s Zone of Exclusion, reducing coverage to about 85 per cent of a spacecraft’s orbit. Partial service was restored within months through emergency repairs and two mobile terminals borrowed from the US Army.
The Category 4 storm struck Guam on 24 May 2023, damaging two 16.5-metre antennas, an 11-metre antenna and the station’s Inter Facility Link building. NASA says the station’s restoration closes the coverage gap once again.
Disaster-relief funding approved by Congress in early 2025 supported the rebuild and upgrades at three other Near Space Network ground stations. NASA’s Glenn Research Center managed the Guam repairs, while the network is operated from the Goddard Space Flight Center.
