PERTH, Australia — The United States military will station a powerful radar and a space telescope in Australia as part of its strategic shift toward Asia, the two countries announced Nov. 14.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta described the deal as a “major leap forward in bilateral space cooperation and an important new frontier in the United States’ rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region.”
The transfer of the C-band radar “will add considerably to surveillance of space debris in our part of the world,” Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith told a news conference.
The plan, unveiled at annual strategic talks between the two nations, calls for the first deployment of a U.S. Air Force C-band radar in the Southern Hemisphere, allowing the Americans to better track space debris as well as Chinese space launches, senior U.S. defense officials said.
Read the full story at DefenseNews