Billion-dollar radar installation could be threatened by rising sea levels

Associated Press : To track space debris in orbit around Earth, the US Air Force is building a $1 billion radar installation on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Space Fence facility is being constructed by Lockheed Martin, which won the contract in 2014 and began construction last year with the goal of completion by late 2018. But the atoll rises just 3 m above sea level. According to Curt Storlazzi of the US Geological Survey, many islands in the atoll will be completely submerged by storms multiple times a year within just a few decades. The saltwater would pose a significant threat to electrical systems and other hardware. Dana Whalley, who is managing the Space Fence program, says that the facility has a projected lifespan of only 25 years. Sea walls should be able to protect the facility during that time scale, Whalley says.