Date: May 2026
Amount: $21,200

The Deep Space Exploration Society (DSES) operates the Paul Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences Center near Haswell, Colorado, home to a restored 60-foot steerable radio telescope. DSES has used the site for radio astronomy, Earth–Moon–Earth communications, pulsar detection, and other amateur radio and space science projects.

DSES is taking on the goal of sending amateur radio signals to Venus and detecting the reflection back at Earth. This is the second phase of the project, building on a 2025 grant that helped establish the feasibility of the experiment and identify the main technical challenges. DSES will move from the 23 cm system used in Phase 1 to a 2.4 GHz system and make improvements to the transmit and receive systems. The team will also work on the antenna feed and digital signal processing needed to detect the very weak reflected signal. The goal is to attempt the first verified amateur radio Earth–Venus–Earth communication during the October 2026 Venus alignment.

The project will produce open-source link budget models, digital signal-processing methods, and system designs, along with raw and processed data from the Venus observation campaign. DSES will document its methods, results, and lessons learned so others can use the work in their own research and experiments. The project will also support technical presentations and papers, student visits, and public demonstrations.