“Sept. 17, 2025 marks 60 days since Gen. Guetlein’s confirmation and the establishment of the Office of Golden Dome for America,” a Pentagon spokesperson said. “The Department of War met the deadline of initial architecture development.”
Two sources confirmed that Guetlein had briefed Congress on Monday on the goals and schedule of Golden Dome, which aims to protect the United States from ballistic, hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles. According to government presentations previously reported by Reuters, the system would feature space-based sensing and targeting, ground-based interceptors, radar arrays and potentially laser systems.
The Pentagon has declined to disclose detailed information on the scale or cost of the initiative, citing operational security. In May, Trump estimated the price tag at $175 billion, while the U.S. Congressional Budget Office has suggested that a space-based interceptor network alone could cost more than $540 billion over two decades.
Pentagon spokesman Kingsley Wilson confirmed budgetary risks last month, stressing the programme would be “very expensive” but at the same time “extremely critical” and important. Analysts argue that even small adjustments could have major financial consequences, with Todd Harrison of the American Enterprise Institute noting: “The cost depends on the level of geographic coverage, the types and number of threats it must counter, and the degree of resilience it must achieve. Even minor changes to these parameters can affect costs by hundreds of billions of dollars.”
The architecture currently includes four integrated layers, one satellite-based and three land-based, with a notional 11 short-range missile batteries across the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. The next milestone is due in mid-November, when Guetlein must present a full implementation plan with satellite and ground station details.
The Golden Dome project draws inspiration from Israel’s Iron Dome but would operate across a vastly larger geographic area. Major U.S. defence contractors including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX and Boeing are expected to compete for system components.
In September, the first 21 satellites from the new constellation intended to form the backbone of Golden Dome were launched from California. Earlier this month, Trump said Canada had expressed interest in joining the project, calling it an important step for both nations.
Critics caution that creating space interceptors will pose unprecedented technical challenges, and officials have acknowledged that the system is unlikely to be ready before 2028. Pentagon sources expect that by then the programme could be ready for initial demonstration.
