Pictured is a Department of the Air Force photo of Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman during a briefing by a member of the 20th Space Surveillance Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla. on April 13.

The congressional fiscal 2027 defense bill mark-ups so far contain the Space Force's full $442 million request for the Northrop Grumman [NOC] Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability (DARC). The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to hold its edit of the defense appropriations bill. The first DARC site was to turn on in Exmouth in the Western Australian Outback this year as part of a rapid prototyping Middle Tier of Acquisition effort, but that date has slipped to next year or…