The “Golden Dome,” a $175 billion missile defense system, was announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Trump named US Space Force General Michael Guetlein to spearhead the “Manhattan Project-scale” project.
Trump stated that the project will be finished in three years and would shield the entire continental United States, including Canada, from aircraft attacks during the Oval Office announcement, which was accompanied by Guetlein and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to Xinhua news agency.
Trump said, “It is a great day for America,” as he sat next to a billboard that included creative representations of missile interceptions and the continental United States painted in gold. “This design for the Golden Dome will integrate with our existing defense capabilities and should be fully operational before the end of my term.”
The ambitious plan aims to establish a vast satellite network that can track, detect, and intercept approaching missiles. Trump said that the system was “capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world and even if they are launched from space.”
The project is a significant change from what was once called the “Iron Dome for America” during the first week of the presidency. The Pentagon changed the name to “Golden Dome” in February, presumably because of trademark issues with Israel’s Iron Dome system.
Guetlein has vast experience in space-based capabilities and missile defense, having previously been the US Space Force’s vice chief of space operations.
Guetlein outlined the project’s scope in March, stating that it would “take concerted effort from the very top of our government” and “national will to bring all this together.” He described the initiative as being “on the order of magnitude of the Manhattan Project.”
According to a Bloomberg report on May 5, the Congressional Budget Office had previously estimated that the system might cost between $161 and $542 billion over 20 years, while Trump’s $175 billion price tag was much lower.
A space-based, boost-phase missile defense system might cost up to $831 billion (in 2025 currency), according to a 2012 National Research Council report.
“It will likely cost in the trillions if and when Golden Dome is completed,” Montana Senator Tim Sheehy, a Republican who leads a “Golden Dome caucus,” recently told an audience, according to Space News.
The technical viability of the idea has also been questioned by defense specialists, who point to the challenge of enlarging Israel’s Iron Dome to defend an area that is around 400 times larger. The American system would have to counter sophisticated ballistic and hypersonic missiles, whereas the Israeli system mainly defends against artillery and short-range rockets.
SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril are among the top contractors competing for important satellite-based components. They plan to deploy a constellation of hundreds to thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites to enable continuous three-dimensional tracking and intercept capability.
Republicans in Congress have pushed to include $27 billion for Golden Dome to a $150 billion defense package that is part of Trump’s tax-cut reconciliation measure.
The equipment would primarily rely on space-based sensors and interceptors to provide early detection and rapid response capabilities, according to Space Force officials cited in a number of press stories. In contrast to other missile defense plans, such as the Strategic Defense Initiative of former US President Ronald Reagan, proponents contend that this one would be more feasible given current technology.
Critics warn that turning space into a weapon may start a new arms race and jeopardize long-standing arms control agreements.
In a statement issued in January, Laura Grego, research director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, called the proposal “fantasy,” cautioning that enemies would create countermeasures to thwart a space-based shield.
According to the group, earlier plans to construct space-based missile defenses in order to circumvent the shortcomings of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system had been repeatedly shelved “because they are expensive, very technically challenging, and readily defeated.”
“Trump’s idea of a space-based missile defence is a bad investment,” it said.
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