A new contract was issued last week for the Golden Dome for America, the proposed and ambitious multi-layered missile defense designed to shield the United States from advanced aerial threats, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles. It was initiated last year by the Trump administration, and current plans call for the Golden Dome to utilize a system of systems that integrate at least four interconnected layers of defense.
Its architecture also features two primary components: Space-Based Interceptors and the Tracking Layer.
New Tracking Contract
Last week, the acting U.S. Space Force (USSF) Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) for Space-Based Sensing & Targeting (SBST) issued a $4.16 billion contract for a satellite constellation that could “track and target airborne threats globally.”
The competitive Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement is meant to accelerate the delivery of the space-based sensing layer. That would be a shift from “the long-standing method” employed by military airborne platforms to track moving targets, as there are new challenges as adversaries develop “increasingly sophisticated anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems.”
The Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. military, is seeking ways to complement the traditional airborne sensing.
The SB-AMTI Program
Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program could enhance the Space Force’s capabilities to the Joint Force by employing a persistent, global capability that could sense and track various threats from space.
“By focusing these capabilities to the space domain, we are providing the Joint Force with sustained battlespace awareness of contested airspace,” explained USSF Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for SBST. “We are beginning development and integration efforts immediately to meet the program’s rapid deployment milestones and address emerging national security requirements.”
SB-AMTI, which is being developed as one of the systems of systems, could integrate the space-based sensor with secure and rapid communication links and resilient ground-based processing. The efforts could also be a shift toward deeper collaboration within the emerging government space industrial base.
SpaceX is among the numerous companies in the growing vendor pool.
“By utilizing this multi-vendor framework, we are capitalizing on established industry capacity and continuously evaluating and onboarding the best tech to field this essential capability at speed and scale,” Frazier added. “We will not leverage any one single provider; instead, we are partnering with a highly diversified pool of traditional and non-traditional vendors, each bringing various capabilities to support the SB-AMTI architecture, ensuring the Joint Force has access to a strong, competitive industrial base well into the future.”
The SpaceX satellites won’t completely replace the Pentagon’s fleet of military aircraft that are currently employed to track moving targets. Still, they could be part of a layered defense with the different platforms complementing one another.
A New Partnership for the Space-based Interceptors
Tracking the threats is just one component of the Golden Dome, with intercepting them being another. On Monday, aerospace giant Northrop Grumman announced it was working with Los Angeles-based startup Apex on space-based interceptors (SBIs) that could be produced more quickly and at a lower cost than traditional spacecraft, and to strengthen the U.S. homeland missile defense capabilities.
Northrop Grumman is one of the 12 firms previously selected by the United States Space Force to develop the SBIs, which remain among the most ambitious elements of the proposed Golden Dome. The platforms would be positioned in orbit to engage an adversary’s missile during flight. The aerospace firm is now seeking to build a new layer of defense via the first-of-a-kind missile defense system via its nation-spanning workforce but also through industry partnerships, including with Apex.
Ryan Tintner, vice president and general manager, space superiority systems division, Northrop Grumman: “We’re combining our advanced missile defense technologies and commercial partnerships to demonstrate next generation space-based interceptor capabilities in support of our nation’s Golden Dome priorities. We have already completed key ground tests this year and are uniquely positioned with Apex to accelerate and scale affordable production to defend the homeland rapidly.”
Founded in 2022, Apex develops and builds configurable satellite platforms and seeks to solve the satellite production bottleneck issues. Its satellite buses were designed to streamline production and lower costs over traditional government spacecraft.
“Apex was founded specifically to support proliferated constellations like Golden Dome, which will require satellites to create a decisive defensive advantage for our nation,” said Ian Cinnamon, chief executive officer and co-founder of Apex. “This partnership will enable operational, constellation-scale space-based missile defense and allow us to support an urgent need rapidly.”
This is the latest partnership among the companies now developing SBIs. Raytheon previously announced it is working with Rocket Lab, and Anduril Industries has formed a partnership with several commercial space companies.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has actively encouraged collaboration between established aerospace and defense firms and new emerging firms in the sector. The Pentagon has sought to cultivate a “hybrid” acquisition model that pairs established primes with agile enterprise startups that can help scale critical innovation.
