US space spy radar moving to Western Australia
A US space surveillance radar is being located to the Harold E Holt naval station in Western Australia. (Photo: thetravellingnovocastrians.blogspot.com) Supplied
A new eye on space will be opened in Western Australia when a $30 million project to relocate a high-tech telescope is completed.
Construction is set to start next month on the $4.5m opening stages of the plan, which will end with a US C-band space surveillance radar being moved from New Mexico to Exmouth, more than 1000km north of Perth.
The Harold E Holt naval communications station will be the new home for the telescope, which will reportedly cost $10 million a year to operate.
The relocation is part of the Space Situational Awareness Partnership, an agreement between Australia and the US to monitor space debris.
The US tracks about 16,000 objects in orbit, ranging from the International Space Station to scrap metal.
It is feared the chance of collision has steadily increased, following decades of orbital launches and space exploration.
AAP also reported there was a growing worry the southern hemisphere was a "blind spot" in terms of monitoring anti-satellite missiles and signal jamming in warfare.
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