WASHINGTON — LeoLabs, a California-based space monitoring company, has secured a $60 million public-private agreement to deploy a next-generation radar site in the Indo-Pacific region.
The agreement, announced March 8, is known as a Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) awarded by the U.S. Space Force SpaceWERX organization. One half is funded by the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and other defense agencies, including U.S. Space Command. The other half is funded by LeoLabs’ private investors.
Under the agreement, LeoLabs will work to deploy a new Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radar installation by late 2026. The system will track satellites and other objects in low Earth orbit, and monitor activities of particular interest to the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command (Indo-PACOM).
The new installation will build on the technology LeoLabs has already deployed in Arizona. That radar, partially funded by a 2023 Air Force SBIR contract, uses a phased array antenna operating in the UHF band. The site in Indo-Pacific will be larger, with a wider field of view, allowing it to monitor a broader swath of orbital space at once.
The Indo-Pacific radar will track space activities but also focus on the detection of Chinese space launches and on tracking Chinese satellite maneuvers, said LeoLabs CEO Tony Frazier.
The new site will be integrated into LeoLabs’ global sensor network, which provides broad coverage across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres as well as equatorial regions. The radar will operate as a dual-use system, supporting both government and commercial customers, Frazier said. “The award is a strong endorsement of how this capability can fill a gap in the space domain awareness architecture for the U.S. government.”
Radar to support Indo-Pacific Command
He said the UHF radar will help close sensor gaps in the western Pacific, improving the ability of the U.S. and its allies to detect and characterize activities such as hypersonic missile launches and potential threats against U.S. satellites, Frazier said.
U.S. Indo-PACOM, responsible for defending and promoting U.S. interests in the region, has expressed concern about China’s accelerating space activities, he added. China attempted a record-breaking 68 orbital space launches in 2024, a number projected to increase as the country builds out new satellite constellations.
“It’s becoming more challenging to be able to detect non-cooperative launches,” Frazier said. “That’s one of the main missions we want to support Indo-PACOM with this sensor, as well as being able to maintain custody of those objects when they maneuver, to support space domain awareness requirements.”
The U.S. Space Force operates the government-owned Space Surveillance Network, which consists mainly of sensors positioned in the Northern Hemisphere — an orientation shaped by Cold War-era concerns over Soviet missile threats. LeoLabs’ global network, with equatorial and Southern Hemisphere radars, said Frazier, is helping to fill gaps in coverage.
