Upgrading the prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope

The Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) is a very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory that will improve upon the sensitivities of the current generation of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (IACT) arrays by an order of magnitude. The Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (SCT) is a candidate design for a CTAO medium-sized telescope (MST) featuring a high-resolution silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) camera and innovative dual-mirror optics. The prototype Schwarzschild-Couder Telescope (pSCT) was inaugurated in 2019 at Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona and detected the Crab Nebula at a significance of 8.6 sigma in 2020 with a partially populated focal plane. The pSCT camera is currently undergoing an upgrade to fully instrument the 8-degree wide field-of-view (FoV) with 11,328 SiPM pixels. The upgraded camera modules feature design changes to reduce electronics noise and crosstalk. Laboratory characterization of the upgraded camera modules has demonstrated that they have low electronics noise and crosstalk, resulting in excellent charge resolution and a low trigger threshold. First light with the upgraded camera is expected in 2026. We will present the performance of the upgraded camera modules, which are the heart of the camera upgrade, and plans for completing the upgrade and conducting observations with the upgraded telescope.