Space Force picks Texas site for third Northrop Grumman DARC radar
The Space Force picked Lake Kickapoo, Texas for the third and final Northrop Grumman DARC deep-space radar site.
what happened
The U.S. Space Force selected Lake Kickapoo in northern Texas as the preferred location for the third Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC) site, pending final approvals, Aviation Week reported. The Texas site completes a three-site DARC network alongside existing installations in Exmouth, Western Australia and Pembrokeshire, Wales, built by prime contractor Northrop Grumman; construction of the Texas site is set to begin in 2027 with operational acceptance targeted for 2030, per an independent report on the announcement.
why it matters
DARC gives the Space Force continuous, weather-independent radar tracking of objects near geostationary orbit, reducing reliance on optical space-surveillance systems that lose visibility in daylight or bad weather. For Northrop Grumman and other ground-segment and space-domain-awareness contractors, the site pick keeps a multi-hundred-million-dollar program on schedule toward full three-site operation, a model the Space Force and its allies may reuse for future space-surveillance buys.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- Northrop Grumman
- Category
- procurement
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-09-09
- Published
- 2026-09-10 05:29 UTC