Prospect Harbor Naval Satellite Operations Station, Maine

Part of a network of satellite tracking and control facilities, overseen by the Naval Satellite Operations Center (NAVSOC). Headquartered at Point Mugu, CA, other facilities include stations at Rosemount, MN; Laguna Peak, CA; Wahiawa, HI; and Finegayan Bay, Guam. Known as NAVSOC Detachment ALFA, this site covers just a few acres, at the tip of Prospect Harbor Point, where a half-dozen small buildings, including the old lighthouse keepers residence, and two small radomes, are used by naval personnel to control and monitor the worldwide satellite system. The site was first established by the Navy at the Corea antenna site of the Naval Security Group Winter Harbor, which operated from 1935 to 2001, from two sites nearby, at Corea and Schoodic Point, on either side of Prospect Harbor. Operations were moved to this former Coast Guard site at Prospect Harbor in 1964, and the activities remained independent from those at Winter Harbor. These are some of the several independent military communication sites, active and inactive, that have been established to take advantage of Maine’s location on the North Atlantic, and its proximity to the northern European and Russian states on the other side of the water.