# Launching America- Goddard’s Role in Keeping Astronauts Connected to Earth

NASA’s Human Space Flight Network stands ready to support the launch of astronauts from U.S. soil for the first time since the end of the space shuttle program in 2011, coordinating communications across multiple network elements to provide robust and reliable communications to the crew. Overseen by the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program, NASA’s communications networks are supporting this historic human spaceflight milestone, just as they will support all commercial crew missions. https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dm2/ One of those elements, NASA’s Space Network, consists of a constellation of relay communications satellites and ground stations to provides data and voice communications. Thanks to the Space Network, SpaceX’s Dragon crew and spacecraft will stay connected to the ground and the International Space Station from launch to station docking, through re-entry and splashdown. NASA recently made improvements to the Space Network to enhance relay satellite pointing capabilities to actively respond to potential abort scenarios. Additionally, the Human Space Flight Network collaborates with the U.S. Space Force’s Eastern Range and 45th Space Wing to provide independent ground-based orbit determination in the event of off-nominal operations conditions. In addition to communications services, NASA’s Search and Rescue office has joined with the Human Space Flight network to provide the Commercial Crew Program with responsive location services through the…

- Kind: Short
- Year: 2025
- Runtime: 1 min
- By: NASA
- Genres: Space
- Archive: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Launching_America-_Goddard%E2%80%99s_Role_in_Keeping_Astronauts_Connected_to_Earth.webm)
- Licence or status: Public domain (as the archive states it)
- Credit: NASA
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/commons/196661324?play=1)