A high-tech facility is being built on Western Australia’s remote north-west coast under AUKUS efforts to improve “deep-space object tracking”, as militaries across the world focus on future warfare involving satellites.
Key points:
- The Exmouth site is the location for a new ground-based radar in the American-led Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability
- According to a statement, DARC will “detect, track, and identify objects in deep space”
- The US has already spent $2.25 billion on the “Space Fence” surveillance radar network to track objects in low Earth orbit
The site near Exmouth is the location for a new ground-based radar in the American-led Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) program, with construction work well underway.
Sources with knowledge of the yet-to-be-completed West Australian facility say it covers a vast area of land and will be an important capability alongside a suite of other existing international sensors, including from the commercial sector.
The ABC has confirmed Australia’s contribution to the DARC program is estimated to be almost $2 billion over more than 20 years, to operate and sustain the WA site.
In February last year, American defence company Northrop Grumman was awarded a $510 million contract by the US Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) to develop, test and deliver the DARC system for space domain awareness.
The DARC program was begun in 2017 by the US Air Force, which has already spent $2.25 billion on the “Space Fence” surveillance radar network to track objects in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Under DARC, objects in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) will be tracked, and it will augment existing sensor facilities such as the Space Fence site in the Marshall Islands, as well as the proliferation of commercial sensors entering the market from numerous providers.
Over the weekend, AUKUS defence ministers confirmed they were “accelerating capabilities that provide trilateral partners with advanced technology to identify emerging threats in space”.
“AUKUS played a critical role in advancing trilateral collaboration on the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability program,” Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a joint statement with his US and UK counterparts Lloyd Austin and Grant Shapps.
According to the statement, DARC will “provide 24-hour continuous, all-weather global coverage to detect, track, and identify objects in deep space and increase space domain awareness”.
“This capability will contribute to the security, safety, and responsible use of space. Sites will be in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia.”
Space is considered an increasingly contested military domain, where geopolitical tensions are playing out as particularly Russia and China host ever-more-advanced capabilities in orbit.
AUKUS partners expect the first radar site at Exmouth to be operational in 2026, with the other locations in the United States and United Kingdom to also be in service by the end of the decade.
The first evidence of Australia’s involvement in the DARC program emerged at a US congressional hearing earlier this year, although the precise cost and size of the Exmouth facility are not yet publicly known, or how many ADF personnel will work there.
Appearing at the US Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces in May, the Assistant Secretary of the US Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli, and General David D Thompson from the USSF revealed Australia’s role.
“We are adding three new radar sites (United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom) with the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability to enhance our deep-space object tracking,” they said in a written submission.
In March last year the head of the USSF, General John W “Jay” Raymond, flew into the Western Australian town of Exmouth with US Consul David Gainer to inspect space cooperation efforts between both nations firsthand.
“The United States continues to be impressed by Western Australia’s space capabilities, including our multiple partnerships in Exmouth where Americans and Australians work side by side to benefit our people and our region,” Mr Gainer said at the time.
The ABC has approached the Defence Department for comment on specific questions about the Australian staffing of the DARC facility in Exmouth, but it has not responded.