Apr 18, 2025
President Donald Trump is building a Golden Dome missile defense shield, which will cost hundreds of billions of dollars to cover the entire globe and monitor enemy threats to the US.
The state-of-the-art defense structure could be up and running as early as 2026, with Elon Musk's SpaceX company partnering with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to build key parts of the Golden Dome, six sources told Reuters.
SpaceX's integral involvement in the project - which is expected to cost Musk $10 billion - would include building and launching more than 1,000 satellites around the globe to sense missiles and track their movements.
Another trailblazing fleet of around 200 attack satellites armed with precision missiles or lasers would then bring down threatening enemy missiles, according to sources.
The decision process is still in its early days, and who is selected to work on certain elements could change - but the Pentagon said that parts of the Golden Dome could be operational from next year, with other parts delivered by 2030.
The protection system was ordered by Trump during his first week in office, and if successful, would mark the first time the U.S. would place weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch.
Trump warned that a missile attack is 'the most catastrophic threat facing the United States,' highlighting the need for such a revolutionary, orbital defense mechanism.
All three of the companies selected for the Golden Dome project were founded by entrepreneurs who have been supporters of Trump, with Musk also serving as a special adviser to the president as the chief of DOGE.
Defense Department officials will soon brief the president on three options for him to choose from, according to NBC News.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others will show him the plans in what has been referred to as 'Goldilocks options', small, medium and large, with each option coming with its own timeline and price tag, the outlet reported.
US Space Command said last week that they had handed their finalized options to Hegseth for his review and approval.
The three companies met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon recently to pitch their ideas.
One of the sources familiar with the talks described them as 'a departure from the usual acquisition process'.
'There's an attitude that the national security and defense community has to be sensitive and deferential to Elon Musk because of his role in the government', they said.
SpaceX has proposed that they set up Golden Dome as a 'subscription service', in which the government would pay for access to the tech, rather than own the whole system.
The subscription model could skirt some Pentagon procurement protocols allowing the system to be rolled out faster, the two sources said.
While the approach would not violate any rules, the government may then be locked into a subscription and lose control over its ongoing development and pricing, they added.
Some of those inside the Pentagon have expressed concerns about relying on such a model, with the arrangement unusual for such a large defense program.
The Pentagon received interest from over 180 companies keen to develop and build the system. READ MORE
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SOURCE: Daily Mail