Northrop Grumman receives second DARC radar site award

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded the sole-source US$200 million ($295 million) Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) Site 2 contract by the US Space Force. The second site, located in the United Kingdom, is scheduled to be operational in June 2008 and continues DARC’s path to become one of the world’s most advanced radars for tracking objects in deep space.

This award follows the previous competitive award of the US$341 million ($502 million) DARC Site 1 contract in 2022 in Western Australia. Construction of this site is expected to be completed by the end of 2005. Site 3, which will be located in the USA, is expected to be operational by June 2029.

DARC will monitor objects in geosynchronous orbit 35,400km above the equator, day and night and in all weather conditions, providing full global coverage to protect critical US and allied satellites. It will operate in collaboration with the US’s AUKUS partners in Australia and the United Kingdom. Under a Memorandum of Understanding announced in 2023 that will run until 2050.

“The DARC Site 2 award expands Northrop Grumman’s support for the US Space Force’s Space Domain Awareness (SDA) capabilities in an increasingly contested domain,” said Pablo Pezzimenti, vice president, integrated national systems, Northrop Grumman. “This site brings us closer to achieving global coverage of deep space, which is a critical mission for future security of the US and its allies.”

The DARC global network of advanced ground-based sensors will be hosted and operated by the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in a partnership expanding beyond what individual nations could achieve alone in one of the most critical domains for future security, says Northrop Grumman.

Traditional ground-based optical SDA systems only operate at night and are impacted by weather conditions. The DARC program will boost the resilience of the space domain architecture through the adaptability of its 24/7 monitoring and all-weather capability, making operational surprise exceedingly difficult for adversaries.