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Topic: Air Warfare, and Space Blog Brand: The Buzz Region: Americas Tags: Air Defense, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Golden Dome, North America, Satellites, SpaceX, and United States If Trump Wants a “Golden Dome,” He Needs Elon Musk December 10, 2025 By: Brandon J. Weichert
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Only one American company has the capacity to meet President Trump’s ambitious timeline for the construction of a space-based missile interceptor system: Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Elon Musk is set to win a massive $2 billion contract from the United States Department of Defense to build out the orbital sensor network that will form the backbone of the proposed Golden Dome national missile defense system. Consisting of more than 600 satellites, the satellite component of the Golden Dome will be the eyes and ears for the system.
Placed in orbit, these systems will do more than detect and track incoming ballistic missiles. They will be used to identify and alert American defense planners to any potential hypersonic weapons and even drone swarms.
No One Comes Close to SpaceX’s Satellite Capabilities
Initially, the Trump administration was attacked by the Democratic Party in Congress for handing the massive contract over to Musk. After all, Musk is a special adviser to the president. SpaceX, Musk’s firm, winning that contract would appear to be political cronyism.
In July, shortly after the Trump administration announced the Golden Dome, it made it clear that it was looking at multiple potential contractors to build the satellite sensing network that would undergird the Golden Dome system, not just Musk. At that time, both Trump and Musk had a falling-out that made it easier for the Trump White House to make clear their intention to look elsewhere for the satellites of the proposed Golden Dome system.
But, by the end of October, it was clear that the administration was poised to hand the contract over to SpaceX. Why? Simply because SpaceX has a proven track record of conducting large-scale space operations for the US government at cost and on time.
The Golden Dome project, whatever becomes of it, is the greatest technical undertaking the Pentagon has attempted since the Manhattan Project. And the satellite constellation that will form the sensor network for the systems is key.
After having looked at multiple contract bids, it is likely that the Pentagon realized the only firm that could conceivably bring this ambitious program to fruition on the extraordinarily fast timetable that the Trump administration has put forward for the project is SpaceX. Already, SpaceX has proven it can operate advanced satellite networks at cost, both the civilian Starlink and the mysterious military program known as Starshield.
It is thanks to Starshield that the Golden Dome network is likely to be built by SpaceX.
Indeed, the Starshield system is likely more than merely a next-generation, classified military satellite constellation. In October, NPR reported that the Starshield constellation in orbit was emitting a “mysterious signal” that could potentially “disturb other legitimate uses of space.”
In other words, the Starshield constellation operating in classified orbits could potentially disrupt satellites belonging to nearby constellations. And all this comes after Starlink has been used for years by Ukraine to stay in the fight with Russia.
So Musk has more than proven himself as the master of military satellites. That’s why he is likely the winner of the $2 billion US government contract to provide satellite coverage for the Golden Dome national missile defense shield.
SpaceX Could Do More than Satellites, Too
What else could SpaceX be doing for Golden Dome?
For example, the most important aspect of the Golden Dome system are the actual interceptors—which thus far seem to be the real stumbling block for establishing this system (especially on that radically compressed timeline that the Trump administration has set for itself).
Seeing as the Golden Dome is a national missile defense network that will be tasked not only with intercepting traditional intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), but it will be required to anticipate and defend against hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles, and drone swarms, there must be a space-based interceptor component to this system.
In fact, one possibility exists that SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket—which is meant to take humans to Mars—could be launched into orbit to deploy thousands of space-based interceptors into orbit in a short time period. While Anduril, True Anomaly, and Palantir all have contracts they’re working on for Golden Dome specific to the interceptor phase of the system, SpaceX has the infrastructure already established in orbit and within the federal bureaucracy to execute such a technically complex and costly mission set—in a relatively short amount of time.
There is much working against Golden Dome. The one major thing it has working in its favor is SpaceX’s involvement.
Not only should the Pentagon quickly finalize the involvement of SpaceX in the orbital tracking network for Golden Dome, but they should commission SpaceX to deploy actual, reliable space-based interceptors to operate in tandem with those high-end sensor satellite constellations the private space startup will establish in orbit.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert is a senior national security editor at The National Interest. Recently, Weichert became the host of The National Security Hour on America Outloud News and iHeartRadio, where he discusses national security policy every Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Weichert hosts a companion book talk series on Rumble entitled “National Security Talk.” He is also a contributor at Popular Mechanics and has consulted regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including The Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, and the Asia Times. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
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Источник: nationalinterest.org