Thousands of feet above the expanse of the Pacific Ocean and a couple of thousand more beyond the cloud layer, high atop a dormant volcano sits the Maui Space Surveillance System, home of Detachment 3 of the 21st Operations Group, a geographically separated unit belonging to the 21st Space Wing.
The detachment is one of three Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance sites operated by the wing. The others are on Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean, and White Sands Missile Range in Socorro, New Mexico. Located on the 10,023 foot summit of Haleakala, perched on the volcanic crater’s rim, the site is ideal for keeping an eye on what’s happening in space.
more…