DSN Link Budget Calculator
Maximum theoretical downlink data rates to 70 m, 34 m, and 18 m Deep Space Network antennas
Presets
MRO (Mars)
Cassini (Saturn)
Voyager 1
JWST (L2)
Custom
Distance & frequency
Distance
Unit
AU
km
Gm (×10⁶ km)
Frequency band
X-band (8.4 GHz)
Ka-band (32 GHz)
S-band (2.3 GHz)
UHF relay (401 MHz)
Spacecraft antenna
Antenna type
HGA (parabolic)
MGA (medium gain, ~18 dBi)
LGA (low gain, ~3 dBi)
HGA diameter (m)
Aperture efficiency (η)
Transmitter & losses
TX power (W)
S/C system losses (dB)
Ground noise temp (K)
Coding & modulation
Coding scheme
Turbo (rate 1/6, Eb/N₀ ≈ 0.3 dB)
LDPC (rate 1/2, Eb/N₀ ≈ 1.5 dB)
Viterbi conv. (rate 1/2, Eb/N₀ ≈ 4.5 dB)
Uncoded (Eb/N₀ ≈ 9.6 dB)
Modulation
BPSK (1 bit/sym)
QPSK (2 bits/sym)
8PSK (3 bits/sym)
Maximum theoretical data rate
▾ Show link budget detail
Parameter
Value
Validation — known spacecraft (70m DSS, X-band, turbo)