Aerospace company Lockheed Martin won a $915 million Air Force contract to build a new Space Fence that will be used for tracking space objects.
The contract was announced on Tuesday by the Defense Department as one of the biggest space-related military contracts in recent years, according to CBS News. The technology has been a major priority for the military for a long time.
The "fence" will track space clutters around Earth that could threaten spacecraft and satellites.
"Space debris ... is certainly a problem that we're very concerned about," General William L. Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command, said in a speech at the 2013 AFA Pacific Air & Space Symposium. "And let's face it, space is just an unforgiving environment to operate in."
The Air Force originally planned to award a Space Fence contract in July 2012, but later changed the date.
The space fence will use many S-band radars on the ground that will help detect, track and measure orbiting space objects, Network World reported.
The Air Force said the fence will be designed to be the most accurate radar in the space situational surveillance network. It will be able to find, track and measure objects the size of a softball orbiting over 1,200 miles in space. The Air Force called the technology "an uncued tracking system," which means it will be able to provide evidence of satellite break-ups, collisions or unexpected maneuvers.
Lockheed will build the first S-band radar in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, Network World reported.
In order to increase surveillance coverage, the radars will be positioned in strategic cities around the world.
While many of the orbiting objects are small, they can still cause significant damage, CBS News reported. Objects have to move at over 17,000 miles per hour, even when they are in a low Earth orbit, which means even an extremely small object can cause major harm to satellites, spacecraft, or other important equipment. Debris collisions could cost billions of dollars, according to the General Accounting Office.
Operation for the new Space Fence is scheduled to begin in 2017.
