Northrop Grumman Integrates Multiple Antennas to Track Satellites in First-Time USSF DARC Demo

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Northrop Grumman Corporation and U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) successfully combined the capability of multiple ground-based antennas at DARC Site 1 in Western Australia, demonstrating technology that will create the world’s most capable deep-space tracking radar system.

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. This is a significant step forward as the system progresses towards Site 1’s completion and operational capability.

During its demonstration, DARC successfully:

• Utilized seven of the 27 antennas at DARC Site 1, bringing the program a significant step closer to full capability.
• Demonstrated mission-enabling technology capable of tracking spacecraft that present potential threats to space assets or the U.S. homeland and allies.
• Sustained a multi-week campaign of data collection, analysis, and adjustment to confirm successful calibration and operational capability.

DARC is a partnership between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, designed to create an all-weather, global system to track very small objects in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) to protect critical U.S. and allied satellite services. Once complete, DARC will track the movement of objects in, to, and from GEO with the highest precision, an effective and critical capability for threat detection and mitigation. By leveraging a unique design consisting of multiple ground-based antennas operating together as one, DARC provides unmatched capabilities to enable the USSF’s Space Domain Awareness mission.

Expert:

Kevin Giammo, director, Space Surveillance and Environmental Intelligence, Northrop Grumman: “Northrop Grumman’s DARC will provide a strategic advantage at a scale never before achieved in global space domain awareness. Its ability to track multiple small moving objects over 22,000 miles above earth will offer unmatched persistent and comprehensive capability as the world’s premier deep-space radar tracking system.”