Elon Musk’s SpaceX and two partners have emerged as the forefront to gain a key piece of President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield.
Musk’s Rocket and Satellite Company is partnering with software makers Palantir and Drone Builder Anduril on a bid to build a key piece of the Golden Dome.
In an executive order on January 27th, Trump cited missile attacks as “the most devastating threat facing the United States.”
All three were founded by entrepreneurs who are key political supporters of Trump. Musk has donated more than $1.5 billion to help Trump elect, and is now a special adviser to the president, working to reduce government spending through government efficiency.
Despite Pentagon’s positive signal to SpaceX group, some sources emphasized that Trump’s Golden Dome decision process is in its early stages. Its ultimate structure and who is chosen to tackle it could change dramatically in the coming months.
The three companies have met with senior officials from the Trump administration and Pentagon in recent weeks to plan. It says it will build and launch more than 1,000 satellites that will circumvent the Earth to sense missiles and track their movements.
Another fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers will defeat enemy missiles, three sources said. The SpaceX group is not expected to be involved in weaponizing the satellite, these sources said.
One source familiar with the consultation has been described as “a departure from the usual acquisition process.” There is an attitude that because of his role in government, the national security and defense community must be sensitive and repeated to Elon Musk.”
SpaceX and Musk declined to comment on whether Musk was involved in any of the discussions or negotiations, including a federal contract with his business.
The Pentagon did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters, but simply said, “We will work with the decision in line with the executive order and with the White House’s guidance and timeline to provide the president with options.”
The White House, SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril also did not respond to the questions. After publication, Musk responded to a post about Reuters’ story about Social Network X without elaborating “this is not true.”
Subscription Services
With an unusual twist, SpaceX proposes setting its role in Golden Dome as a “subscription service” where governments pay for access to technology, rather than fully owning the system.
A subscription model that has not been reported previously could skirt some pentagonal sourcing protocols and allow the system to be deployed faster, two sources said. Although this approach does not violate the rules, he added that the government could be locked up in subscriptions and lose control over ongoing development and pricing.
Some Pentagon officials have expressed internal concern about relying on subscription-based models for every part of the Golden Dome, two sources told Reuters. Such an arrangement would be rare in such a large, critical defense programme.
US Space Force General Michael Gutrain is currently in discussions about whether SpaceX should be the owner and operator of some of the systems, two sources said. Other options include owning and operating the United States or owning the United States while the contractor handles the business. Guetlein did not respond to requests for comment.
According to two sources, General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, Musk’s top SpaceX advisor, The SpaceX Advisor, is involved in the company’s recent debate. O’Shaughnessy did not respond to requests for comment.
If SpaceX-led group wins a Golden Dome contract, it will be the biggest win for Silicon Valley, a lucrative defense contracting industry, and a blow to traditional contractors.
However, longtime contractors such as Northrop Grumman, Boeing and RTX are expected to become big players in the process, according to people familiar with the company. Lockheed Martin has posted a webpage as part of his marketing efforts.
Many bids
The Pentagon has attracted interest from more than 180 companies eager to help develop and build the Golden Dome, according to US officials, including defense startups such as Epilus, Ursa Major and Armada. Members of the White House National Security Council have been described by a small number of companies about their capabilities, four sources said.
The Pentagon’s second-ranked Pentagon and former private equity investor Steve Feinberg will become a key decision maker for the Golden Dome, the two U.S. defense secretaries said.
Feinberg co-founded Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus CapitalManagement is investing in the cutting edge high-sonic missile industry rather than SpaceX. Feinberg, who refused to respond to a request for comment, said he would sell all his profits to Cerberus when he joined the administration.
Some experts believe the overall cost of the Golden Dome could reach hundreds of billions of dollars. The Pentagon has established several timelines to provide the ability to depart from early 2026 for those delivered after 2030.
Laura Grego, research director for the nonprofit coalition of concern scientists, questioned the feasibility of such a defense system, given that several studies concluded that it was “bad, expensive and vulnerable.”
“Systems like this can be overwhelming when firing multiple weapons at the same time, pushing up the required size defense to a very large number.
According to two sources familiar with SpaceX’s goals, SpaceX has part of the Golden Dome Initiative called the “Custody Layer,” called the “Custody Layer,” pitching the constellations of the constellations that detect missiles, track their trajectories, and determine whether they’re heading for the US.
SpaceX estimates that preliminary engineering and design work for the satellite’s custody layer will cost between $6 billion and $10 billion, two sources say. Over the past five years, SpaceX has launched hundreds of operational spy satellites and, more recently, several prototypes. This could be modified to be used in the project, sources said.
Reuters reviewed an internal Pentagon memo from Defense Secretary Peter Hegses, issued just before the February 28 Pentagon leader’s deadline, in order to seek a “acceleration of deployment” of the satellite’s constellations.
According to people familiar with the plan, the time frame could give SpaceX an advantage due to the fleet of rockets, including the Falcon 9, and existing satellites that can be reused for missile defense shields.
Despite these benefits, some debate-savvy said it was unclear whether SpaceX Group could efficiently set up systems with new technology in a cost-effective way that would protect the US from attacks.
“It remains to be seen whether SpaceX and these tech companies can separate this,” one of the sources said. “They didn’t need to provide the entire system that the country needs to resort to in its defense.”
