page_title: Deep Space Atomic Clock
hierarchical_section_title: Deep Space Atomic Clock
caption_attribution_description: English: The Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) is a miniaturized, ultra-precise mercury-ion atomic clock for precise radio navigation in deep-space. It is orders of magnitude more stable than existing navigation clocks, and has been refined to limit drift of no more than 1 nanosecond in 10 days. It is expected that a DSAC would incur no more than 1 microsecond of error in 10 years of operations. It is expected to improve the precision of deep-space navigation, and enable more efficient use of tracking networks. The project is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and planned for test deployment in low Earth orbit sometime in 2016.
context_page_description: The Deep Space Atomic Clock is a miniaturized, ultra-precise mercury-ion atomic clock for precise radio navigation in deep space. It is orders of magnitude more stable than existing navigation clocks, and has been refined to limit drift of no more than 1 nanosecond in 10 days. It is expected that a DSAC would incur no more than 1 microsecond of error in 10 years of operations. It is expected to improve the precision of deep space navigation, and enable more efficient use of tracking networks. The project is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and it was deployed as part of the U.S. Air Force's Space Test Program 2 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on 25 June 2019.
  The Deep Space Atomic Clock was activated on 23 August 2019. As of June 2020, NASA has extended the DSAC mission through August 2021.
context_section_description: The Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) is a miniaturized, ultra-precise mercury-ion atomic clock for precise radio navigation in deep space. It is orders of magnitude more stable than existing navigation clocks, and has been refined to limit drift of no more than 1 nanosecond in 10 days. It is expected that a DSAC would incur no more than 1 microsecond of error in 10 years of operations. It is expected to improve the precision of deep space navigation, and enable more efficient use of tracking networks. The project is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and it was deployed as part of the U.S. Air Force's Space Test Program 2 (STP-2) mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on 25 June 2019.
  The Deep Space Atomic Clock was activated on 23 August 2019. As of June 2020, NASA has extended the DSAC mission through August 2021.
caption: The miniaturized Deep Space Atomic Clock was designed for precise and real-time radio navigation in deep space.
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