Allied tracking of the geostationary belt is one construction project closer to full coverage after Britain confirmed that building work at its Cawdor Barracks radar site will begin in April 2027.
Minister of State for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard gave parliament the date in a written answer, describing a network of three radar stations and a control center built to spot, follow and identify objects out to geostationary orbit around the clock and through any weather. Australia’s station at Exmouth and the US site at Eglin Air Force Base are already up, so the Welsh outpost completes the set. Northrop Grumman holds the construction contract, signed with the US Space Force in August 2024.
Regulatory groundwork is done. An environmental assessment for the Pembrokeshire site cleared planning in March 2026, the Defence Electromagnetic Authority and Ofcom have issued an initial authority to operate, and the Ministry of Defence and Civil Aviation Authority are finishing airspace safety work.
The capability gap the radar closes is real. Most existing sensors are tuned to low Earth orbit, where satellites sit a few hundred kilometers up, while objects at roughly 36,000 kilometers have been tracked mostly by optical telescopes that need clear, dark skies. Geostationary orbit holds the communications and missile-warning spacecraft that military operations lean on, and both Russia and China have shown satellites able to sidle close to neighbors – behavior that stays invisible unless something can watch it continuously.
