Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability completes first successful test

A new era in space surveillance is dawning as Northrop Grumman Corporation and the US Space Force (USSF) have successfully tested a groundbreaking deep-space radar system. The Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC), a collaborative effort between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, recently demonstrated its potential to become the world’s most capable deep-space tracking system.

At DARC Site 1 in Western Australia, multiple ground-based antennas were successfully combined to operate as a single system. This demonstration involved the precise tracking and characterisation of several satellites, proving the technology’s effectiveness in monitoring objects thousands of miles above Earth. The achievement marks a significant step toward completing the first of several planned DARC sites and bringing the system to full operational capability.

The recent test, which utilised seven of the 27 antennas at Site 1, demonstrated DARC’s ability to track potential threats to US and allied space assets. “Northrop Grumman’s DARC will provide a strategic advantage at a scale never before achieved in global space domain awareness,” said Kevin Giammo, director of Space Surveillance and Environmental Intelligence at Northrop Grumman. He added that the system’s capacity to track “multiple small moving objects over 22,000 miles (35,400 km) above earth,” will provide “unmatched persistent and comprehensive capability.”

The successful demonstration followed a multi-week campaign of data collection, analysis, and adjustments, confirming the system’s operational readiness and the effectiveness of its precision radar technology.

The DARC initiative was formalised with a Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 2023 between the three partner nations: the US, the UK, and Australia. This agreement laid the groundwork for a 22-year collaboration. The system is planned to consist of three high-powered transmit/receive sites strategically spaced around the world to provide 360-degree coverage of the geosynchronous orbit (GEO) belt. 

• Site 1, in Western Australia, is currently under construction and is expected to become fully operational in 2027.
• Site 2, which Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract for in August 2024, is proposed to be located at Cawdor Barracks in Pembrokeshire, Wales, pending environmental and town planning approval.
• The location for Site 3 in the Continental United States is yet to be determined.

Initial groundwork for the system was a technology demonstration at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in late 2021, where a sub-scale version of the system was successfully tested. Once the full DARC system is complete, it will be able to track objects as small as 10 centimetres in diameter from a distance of over 22,000 miles, providing a critical capability for threat detection and mitigation. The entire DARC system is currently expected to be completed by 2032.

Key term: Geosynchronous orbit

A geosynchronous orbit (GEO) is an orbit around Earth where a satellite’s orbital period matches Earth’s sidereal rotation period. Earth’s sidereal day is approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds. This synchronisation means that a satellite in a GEO will return to the same point in the sky at the same time each day, as viewed from a specific location on the ground. However, since the orbit can be inclined (not directly over the equator) or have an elliptical shape, the satellite may appear to drift in a figure-eight pattern in the sky over the course of a day. A geostationary orbit is a specific type of geosynchronous orbit. It’s a circular orbit with zero inclination, meaning it is directly above the Earth’s equator. This unique characteristic makes a satellite in a geostationary orbit appear to be completely stationary to an observer on the ground.

Tech profile: Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability

The Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) is a next-generation ground system designed to ensure security and stability in deep space on a global scale. DARC is designed to be the world’s most advanced radar for tracking and characterising these objects. The system’s unique design consists of a network of ground-based antennas that operate together as one, offering unmatched capabilities for the USSF’s Space Domain Awareness mission. Unlike traditional telescopic systems, which are affected by weather and daylight, DARC’s radar technology can operate 24/7, providing continuous surveillance. DARC’s ability to provide constant monitoring is particularly important, as adversaries cannot use natural events to mask their activities.

The Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability will support other space surveillance assets like telescopes and other radars that are situated around the globe, and in orbit. It will also be combined with commercial capabilities that enable the USSF and others to track the movement and launch of satellites, although not necessarily their payloads. 

Calibre comment

Satellites in the GEO belt tend to be extremely important for national defence, providing sovereign communication and observation capabilities, as well as position, navigation, and timing. They are currently distinct from the low earth orbit satellites of companies like ICEYE, Starlink, and Viasat, but can perform very important missions. Targeting them could create very significant challenges for the three partners as the constellations are smaller, the UK’s Skynet system consists of just four satellites, for example. This means that an adversary could potentially target and damage them quite quickly, leading to a rapid loss of capability that is hard to replace. Adversaries are understood to be developing a number of counters to Western satellite constellations, including: 

• Direct-Ascent Missiles: Ground-based missiles that travel directly into space to collide with and destroy a target satellite. Russia demonstrated a direct-ascent missile in November 2021, destroying one of its own satellites in low earth orbit, for example. Russia was also reported to be developing an orbital anti-satellite weapon that would include a nuclear warhead in 2022.
• Co-orbital Weapons: Satellites that are launched into orbit and then maneuver to a target satellite to inspect it, disable its systems, or destroy it. The use of robotic arms on some satellites, while also intended for maintenance, raises concerns about a potential dual-use capability for nefarious purposes. China is thought to be working on “on-orbit dogfighting” with its Shiyan-24C satellites and Shijan-6 05A/B experimental objects. Again, these were observed dogfighting in low earth orbit, but the threat is real. 
• Directed-Energy Weapons: These include ground-based or space-based lasers and high-powered microwave devices designed to blind or damage a satellite’s sensors and electronic components. Russia has developed the Peresvet laser weapon supposedly for this very reason. 

In a nutshell, the threat is certainly very real and the potential implications of a loss of space capability are difficult to imagine. The loss of GPS, for example, would significantly degrade most NATO communications, ISR systems, and weapons. We also rely on space-based reconnaissance for target development and target mensuration, the process used to provide the most accurate coordinates to a precision strike missile. There is a movement towards a blended model with state capabilities in the GEO belt, and a use of commercial LEO capabilities, with the potential for state-owned capabilities in LEO as well. This will provide resilience as there are many more satellites in LEO, making it harder to degrade them quickly. But protecting those assets begins with domain awareness, which is where the Deep-Space Advanced Radar Capability comes in. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on August 13, 2025. Credit for the lead image is Northrop Grumman.