Antigua Air Station (AFE86)

 military, United States Air Force, satellite/space tracking station

 Upload a photo

Established in the early 1960's as a downrange tracking and communications facility for US Air Force space operations out of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Eastern Range of the Jonathan Dickinson Missile Tracking Annex, the Antigua Air Station has been in continuous operation supporting military space exploration and ICBM testing efforts for the United States and its partners. Due to its location in the lower Northern Hemisphere, the station has proved invaluable in tracking the performance of ICBM test vehicles, military satellites as well as the initial US manned space exploration missions. Capable of monitoring the majority of low-earth orbiting objects, the station now forms part of the United States Space Command's (USSPACECOM) Space Surveillance Forces and in partnership with sister stations at at Kaena Point, Hawaii and Ascension Island, the Antigua Radar Station spends roughly 128 hours per week actively monitoring low-earth orbiting satellites, manned spacecraft and space debris. Presently equipped with three mechanical tracking C-band radar systems, the station is manned by a mixed civilian/military force of the US Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN), and is operated by Detachment 1 of the 45th Space Wing’s Operations Group.

Heavily active in the early years of ICBM development and the U.S. space program, the subsequent draw down and shift of several NASA and US Air Force space launch programs at Cape Canaveral to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California has left the station with a decreasing workload for its manpower-intensive operations. Coming under review for closure or relocation at the end of the 2010's, the US Air Force selected the latter option and as of 2012 efforts have begun to relocate the operational components of the station to Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt which is located on North West Cape in Western Australia. At present, the US Air Force intends to have all space surveillance equipment shifted to the new site by the end of 2014. Following this transfer, it is likely that the current station will be deactivated and returned to the government of Antigua.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Test_Range
www.fas.org/spp/military/program/nssrm/initiatives/anti...