Space Force Selects Texas Site for DARC Deep Space Radar Network

Space Force Selects Texas for Final DARC Deep Space Radar Site

The US Space Force has selected Lake Kickapoo, Texas, as the preferred location for the third and final ground station of the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) space tracking network. According to a Space Force press release, construction at the site is expected to begin in 2027 following contract award and completion of required approvals. Civil construction is projected to complete in 2029, followed by technical testing and evaluation, with operational acceptance planned for 2030.

Gen. Douglas Schiess, Chief of Space Operations, stated that "selecting Texas as the preferred location for the final DARC site keeps us on track to deliver a truly global deep-space sensing network with our closest allies." The Texas site completes a geographic triangle for DARC, establishing ground stations on three continents to provide continuous coverage of the geostationary belt—a crowded orbital regime increasingly contested by adversarial satellite programs. The selection requires a certification from the Federal Aviation Administration that the radar will not interfere with systems used by civil aircraft traffic controllers.

Technical Capability and Coverage Architecture

DARC is designed to detect, track, and characterize objects at roughly 36,000 kilometers altitude in geosynchronous orbit, a regime where traditional ground-based radar systems struggle. The technology was developed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory to provide global monitoring of geosynchronous orbit in all kinds of weather and, unlike most current radar, even during daylight.

The trinational arrangement distributes both cost and geopolitical risk across the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. In September 2023, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding pledging their commitment to working together on DARC for the next 22 years. The Texas node will serve as the primary American contribution to that shared architecture, enabling all three nations to maintain continuous awareness of a critical orbital zone.

Program History and Contract Awards

Northrop Grumman won an initial $341 million contract in February 2022 to begin building the first radar in Western Australia. In August 2024, Northrop won another contract worth approximately $200 million to develop a second DARC array in Pembroke, Wales, which was modified in August to provide almost $216 million in additional funds to allow pre-construction of long-lead items, antenna hardware, and antenna manufacturing for that array, bringing the total contract value to approximately $495 million.

All three DARC sites currently are expected to be fully operational by December 2032. Construction on the second site in Wales is slated to begin next year, signaling progress on the multinational program's forward schedule.

Program Delays and Current Status

The DARC program has faced delays since its inception. The Space Force initially slated initial operating capability (IOC) for the Australian site in September 2025, pushed it back to February 2026 in 2024, and the current projection is for January 2027. To obtain some DARC capability online ahead of schedule, the Space Force began what it called "early use" at Eglin Air Force Base in Massachusetts, enabling "critical military utility online ahead of the original schedule operational acceptance, employing a phased approach to balance initial operations with ongoing contractor development."

In August, Northrop Grumman declared that a first test at the Australia facility had confirmed the ability of DARC's mesh of antennas to work together as one to track multiple satellites, though the test involved only seven of the planned 27 parabolic dish antennas making up the DARC system.

Strategic Significance

The Texas site selection addresses a foundational requirement for space security: continuous awareness of contested orbital zones. Without reliable custody of objects in the geostationary belt, any missile defense or space control strategy operates with incomplete information about threats at that altitude. Gen. Schiess emphasized that "this capability will improve visibility in our contested domain and reinforce our shared capacity to protect the space systems on which our nations rely."

The geostationary belt houses thousands of satellites critical to global communications, Earth observation, weather forecasting, and military operations. As adversarial satellite programs expand capabilities in this regime, the ability to detect and track objects at 36,000 kilometers becomes strategically critical. DARC's multinational structure allows the US, UK, and Australia to share monitoring responsibility and ensure no single-point coverage gaps emerge due to Earth's geometry relative to geostationary orbit.

The Texas facility represents a significant expansion of US deep-space sensing infrastructure. By completing the geographic triangle with sites in Western Australia and Wales, DARC will provide the first truly global radar network capable of continuous monitoring of geosynchronous orbit in all weather conditions and during daylight hours—capabilities that represent a generational advance over existing systems.

Timeline to Operational Status

The path to full operational capability spans several years. Construction contracting is expected to occur in late 2026 and early 2027, with ground-breaking anticipated shortly after contract award. The 2029 civil construction completion target allows approximately 12-18 months for technical testing, integration, and validation before the 2030 operational acceptance milestone. This phased approach aligns with the broader DARC timeline, which targets full multinational operational status by December 2032 across all three continental sites.