In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to build the Golden Dome, an integrated defense system to protect nations against ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missile threats.
The Golden Dome will be a “system of systems,” combining different capabilities to detect, track and intercept threats from an adversary nation.
A slide presentation released by the government in August revealed that the defense system will have four layers: one will be a space-based sensing and targeting layer to serve as a missile warning system, while the other three will feature ground-based radar arrays, missile interceptors and lasers.
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Why Is the US Building Golden Dome?
In a statement in May, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, a 2025 Wash100 Award winner, warned that adversaries have spent the last four decades building ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles capable of striking the United States with conventional or nuclear warheads. The Golden Dome, the defense leader said, is the nation’s response to the “evolving and complex threat landscape.”
The Defense Intelligence Agency study released in the same month revealed the growing scale and sophistication of missile threats the U.S. is facing. The study, titled “Golden Dome for America: Current and Future Missile Threats to the U.S. Homeland,” also predicted that adversaries will continue to advance conventional and nuclear-capable delivery systems in the coming years.
How Much Will Golden Dome Cost?
Congress allocated $24.4 billion for the missile shield in its reconciliation law for fiscal 2025. At the time, Trump said the sum would only be an initial down payment for the system.
In May, he selected a design for the Golden Dome that would cost $175 billion and is expected to be operational by the end of his term in 2029. However, the Congressional Budget Office said that, according to its own estimate, the project would cost $831 billion over two decades.
Which Companies Are Involved in Golden Dome Development?
Earlier news about the project revealed that the administration is recruiting major space companies such as Amazon and Rocket Lab to work on the Golden Dome.
In November, people familiar with the matter shared that SpaceX is poised to receive a $2 billion contract from the Department of War to provide a satellite constellation that can identify and monitor air-moving targets. The constellation will have up to 600 satellites.
More recently, the Missile Defense Agency awarded spots to over 2,100 companies in its $151 billion Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, or SHIELD, contract, one of the contracting mechanisms for the development of the Golden Dome.
SHIELD contract awardees include General Dynamics Information Technology, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Anduril, Leidos, Northrop Grumman, RTX‘s Raytheon and HII Mission Technologies.
According to MDA, SHIELD covers a broad range of activities to support the Golden Dome, including research and development, systems engineering, and modernization and sustainment. Work on the contract vehicle will end in December 2035 if all options are exercised.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said during a briefing at the Oval Office in May that the Golden Dome will be open to all companies, regardless of size.
“What’s exciting about this is it makes it available to everybody to participate, to compete. Big companies, mid-sized companies, small companies,” Cramer stated.
