Air Force Space Surveillance System The Air Force Space Surveillance System , colloquially known as the Space Fence , was a U . S . government multistatic radar system built to detect orbit al objects passing over America . It is a component of the US space surveillance network , and was claimed to be able to detect objects as small as 10 cm ( four inches ) at heights up to 30 , 000 km ( 15 , 000 nautical miles . ) The system ceased operation in September 2013 . The operation ' s headquarters are at Dahlgren , Virginia , and radar station s are spread out across the continental United States at roughly the level of the 33rd parallel north . Description . There are three transmitter sites in the system : The master transmitter at Lake Kickapoo is said to be the most powerful continuous wave ( CW ) station in the world , at 768 kW radiated power on 216 . 97927 MHz . Overhead imagery ( see coordinates given above ) of the Gila River and Jordan Lake sites suggests that the original design called for antennas of twice the present length with , presumably , greater radiated power . There are six receiving stations : The following receiving stations were placed in cold storage in April 2013 : The receiving stations at Elephant Butte and Hawkinsville are considered to be " High Altitude " stations with longer and more complex antenna systems that are designed to see targets at higher altitudes than the other four receiving stations . History . Although formerly operated by the U . S . Navy from 1961 until October 2004 , and known then as NAVSPASUR ( short for " Naval Space Surveillance " ) , command passed to the Air Force 20th Space Control Squadron on October 1 , 2004 . In 2009 , the operations and maintenance contract for the day - to - day management and operation of the Fence was awarded to Five Rivers Services , LLC , based out of Colorado Springs , Colorado . On September 30 , 2011 , Five Rivers Services was awarded a $ 7 , 022 , 503 firm fixed price with cost reimbursable line items contract modification to manage , operate , maintain , and logistically support the nine Air Force Space Surveillance System field stations , presumably for Fiscal Year 2012 . Plans for system upgrade : 2009 - 2012 . The 850th Electronic Systems Group , Electronic Systems Center awarded 3 $ 30 - million contracts to Lockheed Martin , Northrop Grumman and Raytheon on 11 June 2009 . The Space Fence is envisaged to be a system of two or three S - band ground - based radars designed to perform uncued detection , tracking and accurate measurement of orbiting space objects . The Space Fence is intended to replace the Air Force Space Surveillance System , or VHF Fence , that was transferred from the Navy to the Air Force in 2004 . The shorter wavelength of the S - band Space Fence allows for detection of much smaller satellites and debris . The February 10 , 2009 , collision of a U . S . Iridium communications satellite ( Iridium 33 ) and a Russia n Cosmos 2251 communications satellite , which added hundreds more pieces of debris to the atmosphere , highlighted the need for more precise tracking of space objects . Data collected from the Space Fence ' s sensors would potentially feed into the Joint Space Operations Center Mission System , which is used to track objects orbiting the Earth , monitor space weather and assess foreign launches . Used by operators at the 614th Air and Space Operations Center at Vandenberg Air Force Base , Calif . , the 614 AOC ' s 24 - hour - a - day , seven - day - a - week support provides vigilance of global and theater operations and equips the Joint Functional Component Command for space operations with the tools to conduct command and control of space forces . Plans to award the final contract have been stalled by U . S . budget sequestration in early 2013 . and the AFSSS system is likely to be discontinued in October 2013 due to budget cuts 2013 Shutdown . On August first , General William L . Shelton , commander of Air Force Space Command , directed that the Air Force Space Surveillance System be closed and all sites vacated effective October first . The AFSSS was turned off September first . " It appears they pulled the plug at 00 : 00 UT ( 6 am Local MDT ) on September 1st , " reports engineer Stan Nelson , who was monitoring the radar using an antenna in Roswell , New Mexico . The radar ' s final echoes came from a Russian satellite and a sporadic meteor . "