
During the mid-1960s, three tracking stations for the US space program were established outside of Madrid, Spain; Robledo de Chavela, Cebreros; and Fresnedillas. Robledo de Chavela and Cebreros were used by the Deep Space Network (DSN), while the Manned Space Flight Network (later the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network) used the antenna in Fresnedillas. Due to budgetary constraints and changing technologies, the antenna in Cebreros was retired in 1981, and the antenna in Fresnedillas was retired in 1987. In 2005, the European Space Agency (ESA) repurposed the Cebreros station with a new 35 meter (115 foot) Deep Space Antenna (DSA-2). The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) in Robledo de Chavela remains as one of NASA’s Deep Space Network sites along with Goldstone, California and Canberra, Australia.