In an address to reporters last week, the top military official overseeing the Golden Dome for America missile defense program stated that progress was being made and that it is moving beyond the hypothetical stage.
“We need to show the public that we are making progress, that this isn’t just a paper exercise,” said Golden Dome program manager Gen. Michael Guetlein at Joint Expeditionary Base (JEB) Little Creek-Fort Story, Va.
The Pentagon has directed $17 billion towards the ambitious program for fiscal year 2027 (FY27). The Pentagon has stated that the program could cost around $185 billion, but as previously reported, independent analysis has suggested it could cost much more, with a price tag exceeding $3.6 trillion, and taking more than a decade to complete, depending on its scale.
That has led to speculation that the program isn’t too big to fail, but rather too ambitious ever to become a reality, and that it would follow the same trajectory as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), the missile defense program conceived during the Reagan administration in the 1980s. Dubbed “Star Wars,” it was eventually shelved after it was determined to cost roughly $30 billion.
Guetlein has argued that the Golden Dome will succeed where SDI failed, citing progress in the United States Army’s Long-Range Persistent Surveillance (ALPS) program.
“The testing of the Army’s advanced Long-Range persistent Surveillance radar right here in Norfolk is tangible proof of our progress,” Guetlein added. “The ALPS system, built by PAE fires, is significant in that it can detect threats without ever sending out a signal, which allows soldiers to quietly see without being seen.”
The Space-Based Interceptors
Guetlein confirmed contracts were being issued for the Golden Dome for America, which could be one of the defining defense programs of the second Trump administration.
“The most important message I can give to you today is that Golden Dome is real, and it is no longer theoretical,” suggested Guetlein. “Contracts are being awarded, sites are being scouted, and we are hitting our milestones on schedule and on budget.”
Although Guetlein wasn’t specific about what contracts were being awarded, the United States Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the United States Armed Forces, announced this week that it had awarded 20 contracts valued at upwards of $3.2 billion to a dozen companies since the year.
The 12 firms are charged with developing space-based interceptor (SBI) capabilities, a key component of the Golden Dome. The 20 Other Transaction Authority (OTA) contracts were issued in late 2025 and early 2026, and will “ensure the government maintains contracting flexibility to award to the best provider,” the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) announced.
The dozen companies include Anduril Industries, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Mission Systems, GITAI USA Inc, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar Inc, RTX’s Raytheon Company, Sci-Tec Inc, SpaceX, True Anomaly Inc, and Turion Space Corp.
It was just last September that the Space Force released a request for information (RFI) seeking prototype proposals for SBIs and announced that it would award multiple fixed-price OTAs.
SBIs could be deployed as a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation that could be capable of boost, midcourse, and glide phase engagements, Satellite Today explained.
That could be critical to countering threats from cruise, ballistic, and even hypersonic missiles.
“Adversary capabilities are advancing rapidly, and our acquisition strategies must move even faster to counter the growing speed and maneuverability of modern missile threats. Utilizing Other Transaction Authority agreements, we attracted both traditional and non-traditional vendors, while harnessing American innovation, and ensuring continuous competition,” Space Force Col. Bryon McClain, program executive officer for Space Combat Power, said in a statement. “With the commitment and collaboration of these industry partners, the Space Force will demonstrate an initial capability in 2028.”
