LeoLabs, a California-based space object tracking company, has introduced Scout, a mobile surveillance radar system targeted at military clients. This system is designed to improve monitoring of low Earth orbit (LEO), particularly relevant given heightened Pentagon concern regarding China's space activities.
Unveiled on April 7th, Scout is a portable version of LeoLabs' existing fixed-site radar infrastructure. Its portability, facilitated by a container-sized truck, allows for rapid repositioning to strategic locations, as explained by LeoLabs CEO Tony Frazier in a recent interview. Developed with funding from a Small Business Innovation Research contract, Scout is intended to address gaps within the U.S. military's space surveillance network. "We’re also exploring ways it can be deployed on a maritime platform,” Frazier stated. “Scout can be positioned anywhere to address contingencies or monitor specific regions of low Earth orbit requiring enhanced surveillance.”
This mobile radar represents a significant strategic move by LeoLabs to expand its defense operations amidst growing U.S. efforts to monitor Chinese and Russian space activities. In December, the company launched a UHF radar site in Arizona to track objects in low and very low Earth orbit, including advanced missile threats and hypersonic glide vehicles. Furthermore, LeoLabs secured a $60 million public-private agreement, supported by the Small Business Innovation Research program and U.S. Space Command, to deploy a UHF radar site in the Indo-Pacific region by 2026.
LeoLabs is integrating these new sensors with its existing global phased array radar network in Australia, the Azores, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and Texas. Frazier highlighted that this expansion is driven by increased demand for surveillance capabilities due to the rise of mega-constellations in low Earth orbit and the need for military technologies to monitor sophisticated spacecraft. “We’re seeing spacecraft that are aggressively maneuvering, and so in order to be able to detect that activity, and maintain custody of those objects, we’re proliferating our sensors,” Frazier explained. The mobile radar system also bolsters missile-defense capabilities, increasing its attractiveness to military clients. Currently, LeoLabs is testing its sensors' ability to track hypersonic glide vehicles, notoriously difficult to detect and intercept due to their speed and maneuverability.