Construction Of Military Data Center On Maui Alarms Residents
A nearly $100 million military laboratory and data center is under construction in Kihei, Maui, to support Space Force telescope operations on Haleakalā. Residents, environmentalists and Native Hawaiian advocates are questioning the project’s transparency and potential effects on water, electricity, cultural resources and wildfire safety.
A two-story, 56,000-square-foot Secure Integration Support Laboratory and data center is being built at the Maui Research and Technology Park in Kihei. The facility, awarded to Hensel Phelps and expected to be completed early next year, will consolidate operations of the U.S. Space Force’s 15th Space Surveillance Squadron and support up to seven proposed military telescopes planned near the summit of Haleakalā.
The project has drawn renewed criticism from Maui residents, environmentalists and Native Hawaiian advocates, who say federal officials did not clearly disclose its relationship to the telescope proposal or provide adequate information about water and electricity use. The facility will receive water from a Maui County reservoir, include additional storage capacity and rely on diesel backup generators, raising concerns about resource consumption, fuel storage and wildfire risks. Federal officials maintain that the project is needed to improve space surveillance, while the telescope portion remains subject to a more extensive environmental review.