SEPTEMBER 10, 2026 – The U.S. Space Force has approved project planning and selected Lake Kickapoo, Texas, as the preferred location for the third and final site of the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability, or DARC, global network, pending final planning approvals.
The Texas installation will complete a trilateral network of three advanced ground-based space sensors operated in cooperation with the United Kingdom and Australia. Once fielded, the network is designed to provide continuous, all-weather, day-and-night space domain awareness and uninterrupted, overlapping coverage of geostationary orbit.
“Selecting Texas as the preferred location for the final DARC site keeps us on track to deliver a truly global deep-space sensing network with our closest allies,” said Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess. “This capability will improve visibility in our contested domain and reinforce our shared capacity to protect the space systems on which our nations rely.”
DARC is intended to improve the ability of the United States and its partners to identify, track and characterize objects and activity in deep space. Compared with existing ground-based optical systems, DARC is designed to provide persistent 24/7 coverage with greater sensitivity, accuracy, capacity and tracking agility, including against smaller objects at geostationary distances.
“DARC is a strong example of how we are translating operational requirements into fielded capability through deliberate acquisition and close collaboration with our allies,” said Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Dr. Erich “HB” Hernandez-Baquero. “Completing the network architecture at the Texas site will improve resilience and provide the sustained sensing needed for long-term space domain awareness.”
The program is being developed under a 22-year trilateral memorandum of understanding among the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. The U.S. Space Force serves as the overall lead for the program.
U.S. Space Force Guardians assigned to Mission Delta 2, which is responsible for space domain awareness operations, and the 20th Space Surveillance Squadron, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, currently operate the first DARC sensor in Western Australia under an early use agreement and will support integration of the full global network.
“The full DARC network will give operators a more persistent and responsive ability to detect and track activity in deep space,” said Col. Barry Croker, commander of Mission Delta 2. “That shared awareness is essential to supporting the mission and protecting the space-enabled services essential to U.S. forces and our allies.”
Construction at the Texas site is expected to begin in 2027 following contract award and completion of required approvals. The site is projected to complete civil construction in 2029, followed by technical testing and evaluation, with operational acceptance planned for 2030.
DARC Site 1 in Western Australia was completed in December 2024 and entered early use operations in 2025. The United Kingdom site in Pembrokeshire, Wales, remains in progress as the preferred location pending planning approval.
When complete, the three-site DARC network will provide the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia with a shared deep-space surveillance capability to support allied space domain awareness and the protection of critical space-enabled infrastructure.
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs