Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX is reportedly chomping at the bit to build Trump\u2019s $175 billion \u201cGolden Dome\u201d defense system, designed to protect the U.S. from foreign missiles \u201ceven if they are launched from the other side of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unveiled<\/a> the first details of the project during an Oval Office briefing on Tuesday, claiming that it can be completed in three years at the cost $175 billion. Both the budget and timeline conflict with a Congressional Budget Office assessment, which estimates<\/a> that the project could take 20 years and cost $524 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n This unusually large and complex space shield would consist of a vast network of satellites capable of detecting, tracking, and intercepting incoming missiles, in addition to a smaller fleet of offensive satellites, Reuters reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n The GOP-led budget reconciliation bill, which is progressing to the House for consideration, includes $25 billion to jumpstart the Golden Dome project, according to The Hill<\/a>. Leaders in aerospace tech are already clamoring to get their hands on a contract, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and\u2014of course\u2014SpaceX.\u00a0<\/p>\n In April, sources told<\/a> Reuters that Musk\u2019s satellite and spaceflight company made a bid to build key parts of the Golden Dome in partnership with two other U.S.-based companies: software firm Palantir and drone manufacturer Anduril.\u00a0<\/p>\n Around that time, these companies pitched their plan to the Trump administration and the Pentagon, which would involve launching potentially more than 1,000 new defense satellites for sensing and tracking missiles, in addition to a separate fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n In a letter sent to Defense Department inspector general Steven Stebbins on May 1, a group of 42 Democratic lawmakers requested<\/a> a review of the Pentagon\u2019s procurement process for the Golden Dome project, citing conflict of interest concerns over this potential deal with Musk.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of this raises concerns about whether defense contracts to build a Golden Dome are an effective way to protect Americans or are meant to enrich Mr. Musk and other elites,\u201d they wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to generating substantial new revenue for SpaceX and boosting the company\u2019s valuation, a Golden Dome contract could give Musk \u201cunacceptable ongoing leverage\u201d over U.S. national security, the lawmakers warned.\u00a0<\/p>\n The group pointed to SpaceX\u2019s proposal to run this defense system via a \u201csubscription service.\u201d This could allow the company to bypass the Pentagon\u2019s procurement rules and exercise unchecked control over the cost and development of the Golden Dome, The Hill reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Musk could, as he allegedly did in Ukraine, determine when to provide the U.S. government with access to Golden Dome satellite systems,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gizmodo reached out to SpaceX for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since donating more than $250 million to Trump\u2019s election campaign, Musk has become part of the furniture of his administration, serving as a special government employee, senior advisor to the president, and a key official at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that his Golden Dome bidding partners, Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, are also longtime<\/a> supporters<\/a> of Trump.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hardly the first time Musk\u2019s ties to the president have raised concerns. In April, a report from Senate Democrats estimated<\/a> that he and his companies face at least $2.37 billion in legal exposure due to the many conflicts of interest he has acquired through his work with DOGE.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite this, it\u2019s reasonable to believe that the Pentagon could select SpaceX to lead construction on the Golden Dome. Defense officials may feel that Musk\u2019s company is well-positioned to tackle this project for several reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n For one, SpaceX has launched<\/a> hundreds of spy satellites over the last five years, and sources told Reuters that several recently launched prototypes could be retrofitted for the project. The company also has experience building satellite constellations through Starlink\u2014a network made up of more than 11,000 satellites.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, SpaceX\u2019s fleet of reusable rockets could help ensure that the Golden Dome project stays within the tight budget and timing constraints the Trump administration has set for it, though that will still be a herculean task.\u00a0<\/p>\n If SpaceX is not chosen for this task, it\u2019s not immediately clear which launch provider could do the heavy lifting. United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan Centaur and Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn are both possible contenders, but these heavy-lift vehicles have yet to prove themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n Depending on the size and weight of the Golden Dome satellites, other U.S. launch providers could conceivably help, including Firefly Aerospace. In February, Firefly signed<\/a> a $21.8 million contract with the Pentagon to launch a mission under the military\u2019s quick-reaction space program, which aims<\/a> to demonstrate the Space Force\u2019s ability to rapidly deploy satellites in an emergency.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even with SpaceX\u2019s advantages, it\u2019s not clear whether it\u2014or any leading tech company for that matter\u2014could actually pull this project off. No country has ever launched a space-based defense system of this scale before, and it\u2019s difficult to predict the amount of time and money it will take to build and deploy this technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are geopolitical tensions to consider as well. Today, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged the U.S. to abandon the project, stating that Golden Dome will \u201cheighten the risk of turning space into a war zone and creating a space arms race and shake the international security and arms control system,\u201d ABC News reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether the Pentagon and its future Golden Dome contractors can overcome these hurdles remains to be seen. If SpaceX gets in on the action, it could open up a whole new world of technological, ethical, and legal challenges for Musk. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX is reportedly chomping at the bit to build Trump\u2019s $175 billion \u201cGolden Dome\u201d defense system,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3844],"tags":[35237,70,413,1603,1166,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-121358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-defense-tech","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-space","11":"tag-spacex","12":"tag-trump-administration","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114549078314617493","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}