Australia, UK and US Plan to Develop Space Radar Network

Illustration of DARC developed by AUKUS (photo: dock. Northrop Grumman)

JAKARTA – The Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) system will soon be created. From the official release of the United States Space Force (USSF), this radar will be developed in three countries.

The three countries in the AUKUS group, a trilateral security partnership, are Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The three countries will work together to develop ground-based sensors funded by the USSF.

The DARC that will be created by the three countries is a new generation of existing ones. Previously, the developer of DARC was Northrop Grumman, a defense and aerospace technology company in the US.

According to a statement by US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space John Plumb, this radar was deliberately developed in three locations at once. According to him, the development of this new stage will expand the radar's ability to track geography.

“DARC's capabilities will leverage the geography of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom to further enhance our collective awareness of the space domain, the ability to track, identify, and characterize space objects,” Plumb said.

The plan is that DARC will be built in stages at these three locations. The first radar will be built in Exmouth, Western Australia. The hope is that this first radar will begin operating in 2026.

USSF did not explain which location would be the location for the second radar, but this radar program is projected to be completed in 2030. AUKUS must immediately complete this program so that all movements of objects in outer space can be monitored globally.