WASHINGTON — A new deep-space radar site in Western Australia, built under a trilateral partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, has demonstrated it can track objects in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), the prime contractor for the project Northrop Grumman announced Aug. 12.
The facility is the first location in the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) network, a U.S. Space Force-led program designed to improve monitoring of high-altitude satellites and debris. The Western Australia site — known as Site 1 — is part of a planned three-radar network that will also include sites in the U.K. and continental U.S.
According to Northrop Grumman, seven of Site 1’s antennas were able to “characterize the movement of multiple satellites” in recent trials. “DARC’s calibrated antenna arrays operated as a single system to successfully characterize the movement of multiple satellites and demonstrate the effectiveness of the system’s precision radar tracking technology,” said Kevin Giammo, director of space surveillance and environmental intelligence at Northrop Grumman.
When complete, Site 1 will host 27 parabolic dish antennas. Working together, these smaller radar arrays can combine their signals to act like a much larger, more expensive single-dish system — a capability first demonstrated in 2021 by the U.S. Space Force at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Detection and precise tracking of objects more than 22,000 miles above Earth is a priority for the U.S., U.K., and Australian militaries amid growing concerns about orbital debris and potential adversary threats.
GEO is a valuable orbital region, hosting critical military and commercial satellites. The distance makes tracking more challenging, especially for small debris or spacecraft engaged in non-cooperative maneuvers.
Unlike optical telescopes used for similar missions, DARC’s radar is not affected by weather and can operate continuously, day or night. Once operational, it is expected to detect objects as small as a football.
The U.S. Space Force awarded Northrop Grumman a $341 million contract in 2022 for the Western Australia installation, followed by a $200 million award in 2024 for the planned U.K. site. The Australian facility’s construction was completed in December 2024, with full operational capability targeted for 2027.
The network is part of the AUKUS alliance’s defense technology cooperation. A trilateral Memorandum of Understanding was signed in September 2023 to formalize collaboration on space surveillance. The U.K. site is currently undergoing environmental assessments and town planning, while the U.S. location has yet to be selected, pending environmental and airspace studies. The full DARC system is expected to be operational by 2032.