U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman said on Monday it has been awarded a 30-million-dollar contract from the U.S. Air Force for development of a ground radar system called "Space Fence," which keeps track of junk in orbit.

The new Space Fence system will replace the Air Force Space Surveillance System, which was built in 1961 and has a hard time handling the growing number of small and micro satellites in orbit.

The new system "will provide better accuracy and faster detection ... thus avoiding collision and damage to other satellites," said Rich Davis, director of special projects at Northrop's advanced concepts and technology division.

According to the Los Angeles-based company, Australia may be the site of the first Space Fence location, and two additional locations are under consideration.

Source: Xinhua