Antigua Radar Station

 military, NASA, satellite/space tracking station

Established in the 1960's as a downrange tracking and communications facility for NASA space operations out of Cape Canaveral the Antigua Radar Station has been in continuous operation supporting both military and civilian 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 monitoring and relaying information on the majority of low-earth orbiting objects. With its NASA mission curtailed following the end of the Cold War, the station has taken on additional roles as 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 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 under the joint direction of the US Air Force's Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) and NASA.

Due to the shift of several NASA and US Air Force space launch programs at Cape Canaveral to Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, the primary mission of the Antigua Radar Station ceased to exist and the manpower-intensive site came under review for closure or relocation. Selecting the latter option, the US Air Force and NASA have begun efforts 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 in 2012, and 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.

www.fas.org/spp/military/program/nssrm/initiatives/anti...
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