“The U.S. Space Force just awarded Northrop Grumman, one of the United States’ preeminent defense companies, a hefty $341 million contract. The contract stipulates that Northrop Grumman will “develop, test and deliver a Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) in support of its Space Domain Awareness mission.”

“The DARC program will field a resilient ground-based radar providing our nation with significantly enhanced space domain awareness for geostationary orbit,” Pablo Pezzimenti, vice president of integrated national systems at Northrop Grumman, explained in the company’s statement.

“While current ground-based systems operate at night and can be impacted by weather conditions, DARC will provide an all-weather, 24/7 capability to monitor the highly dynamic and rapidly evolving geosynchronous orbital environment critical to national and global security.”

Northrop Grumman's statement further explained that the “DARC will augment the military’s space surveillance network as an additional sensor with increased capacity and capability to monitor deep space objects and eventually provide full global coverage.”

Known Unknowns

Though some of the more specific details about the DARC are unknown, a previous statement by the Space Force sheds a bit of light on the project.

In December of 2021, the Space Force explained that “with all of the space debris and objects now populating Earth orbit, the DARC tracking radar will use existing technologies to detect small space objects or satellites quickly and with highly precise orbital information.”

And in the case that “a collision threatens a satellite system, the operator will be alerted and have time to maneuver away from oncoming debris. DARC will also identify adversarial threats that have the potential to disrupt/deny civil and military space services.”

Eyes and Ears in Space

The U.S. Space Force’s role is increasingly important, and DARC is not the only new initiative that the Space Force has in the works. The Space Force recently launched a pair of satellites into space that would augment the United States’ awareness in outer space. That initiative, called the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), has sent three pairs of GSSAP satellites into space. 

Though the program would put an important new capability into the Space Force’s hands, it will be some time until the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability will be operational. The Northrop statement explained that “the initial DARC contract includes the design, development and delivery of a Site 1 system located in the Indo-Pacific region, expected to be completed in 2025.” Still, the program underscores the growing importance of the space domain for the United States and its adversaries.

Caleb Larson is a multimedia journalist and defense writer with the National Interest. A graduate of UCLA, he also holds a Master of Public Policy and lives in Berlin. He covers the intersection of conflict, security, and technology, focusing on American foreign policy, European security, and German society for both print and radio. Follow him on Twitter @calebmlarson.

Image: Reuters.