The administration has allocated $3.2 billion to develop prototypes of weaponized satellites designed to destroy incoming missiles from space. Successful systems could lead to tens of billions of dollars in future procurement contracts, according to Bloomberg.
The U.S. Space Force is using a competitive acquisition model designed to attract established defense contractors and newer technology companies. Twelve companies, including SpaceX, Anduril Industries and Lockheed Martin, received prototype contracts in April.
The Space Force has identified three interceptor categories covering different stages of a missile’s flight. They include boost-phase interceptors, midcourse systems operating in space and glide-phase interceptors designed for threats returning to the atmosphere.
The wider program also includes firing systems, ground support and integration of future technologies, people familiar with the effort told Bloomberg. Companies will compete for additional funding as they complete successive technical milestones.
The first milestone calls for a ground test by the end of 2026. Companies developing midcourse interceptors could receive roughly $60 million for completing that test, according to a person familiar with the program.
For some competitors, the ground demonstration will require moving sensor data to an interceptor and proving spacecraft propulsion performance. Two subsequent flight tests are planned for 2027 and 2028.
Midcourse-interceptor developers could receive about $126 million for completing the first flight test. The first team to reach that milestone could receive an additional $40 million, Bloomberg reported.
The Space Force may then reduce the five teams competing in the midcourse category to three. The government has not disclosed the full value of the rewards attached to individual milestones.
A final demonstration is planned for 2029 and will require competitors to detect and destroy a test target with a space-based interceptor. The Space Force plans to begin procuring systems in 2030 from at least some teams that successfully complete the test.
“A new generation of advanced air and missile threats, unprecedented in their speed, numbers and lethality, now holds the American homeland at risk,” Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Space Force official leading Golden Dome, told lawmakers in April. The Pentagon says the capability is needed to counter growing missile threats from nuclear-armed countries including China and Russia.
No country has yet deployed space-based missile interceptors. The concept would place spacecraft in orbit to track, detect and engage ballistic missiles during the limited period when they travel through space.
The program represents the most ambitious U.S. effort in space-based missile defense since President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative. That Cold War program was abandoned after running into high costs, technical difficulties and limited political support.
Cost remains one of the largest questions surrounding Golden Dome’s orbital interceptor element. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a space-based network capable of countering only a small number of missiles could cost more than $700 billion.
Guetlein has said about $185 billion is available for the wider Golden Dome program. Democratic lawmakers including Senator Ed Markey and Representative John Garamendi have also raised concerns that placing weapons in orbit could fuel an arms race with China and Russia.
“It will quickly become obvious how expensive and challenging the system is,” said Laura Grego, a senior director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “I just have a hard time imagining this not collapsing under its own weight like it has every time before.”
Source: Bloomberg.
