  The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is the next generation radio telescope
distinguished by a superb sensitivity due to its large aperture (about one
square kilometre) and advanced instrumentation. It will cover a broad range of
observing bands including those used for tracking of and communications to deep
space missions. While spacecraft tracking is not a main application defining
the technical specifications of the SKA, this facility might play a role in
tracking deep space probes as a backup to the ``dedicated'' deep space tracking
networks. This paper presents possible applications of the SKA as a deep space
tracking facility and major related technical specifications of various
concepts of the SKA. It was presented at the 3rd International Workshop on
Tracking, Telemetry and Command Systems for Space Applications, ESA-ESOC,
Darmstadt, Germany, 7-9 September 2004. Over the past years, the SKA concept
has developed to a much higher level of detalisation and is currently at the
implementation phase. A number of specific considerations in this presentation
no longer correspond to the actual status of the SKA project. However, the
overall concept of the SKA applications for communication and tracking of
interplanetary spacecraft remain topical, and some approaches presented here
remain of interest for prospective deep space missions.
