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Welcome to the first part of our debut Mission Brief email series on the history, finances, technology and mission imperative of the Golden Dome missile defense initiative.
For the next eight weeks, we’ll be breaking down the highly ambitious military program from its background to its planned architecture to its budget and to the role of AI. We’ll keep you up to date on the latest SpaceNews coverage of what stands to become one the most expansive military defense systems in United States history. Today, let’s get up to speed on Golden Dome itself and talk about why the U.S. government is interested in such a system.
At any time during this series, please hit reply and let us know what questions you have that we can address in a future installment. Did someone forward you this email? Sign up to receive the next installment in your inbox. Also, you can subscribe to SpaceNews for unlimited access to our industry-wide coverage.
In May, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the lead office for sharing information on foreign militaries released a stark image: a map of the globe with a half dozen streaks heading toward the United States.
Each one represented a threat from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.
“The systems presented here have nuclear-capable variants,” the graphic read. “Depicted are selected missile threats to the Homeland from notional launch points. Missiles from mobile platforms — aircraft, submarines and ships — can penetrate farther should the platform risk a closer approach to the United States.”
The message was clear: The U.S. needed to prepare for threats in scale and sophistication that it had not seen before, and it would need some kind of shield.
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In January, Donald Trump signed an “Iron Dome for America” executive order stating the U.S. “will provide for the common defense of its citizens and the Nation by deploying and maintaining a next-generation missile defense shield.” The shield is heavily inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which uses radar trackers and interceptor missiles to defend against incoming short-range missiles, artillery and drones.
The name for the U.S. project was later changed from the Iron Dome for America to the Golden Dome, in part because “Iron Dome” is a registered trademark owned by Israeli defense firm Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. That company developed Iron Dome in partnership with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
The specific details of the Golden Dome architecture will be finalized over the coming months and years, but military leaders have discussed the broad strokes of what the system will look like. It leans heavily on space-based defense and calls for a range of sophisticated technologies such as satellites that would leverage orbital vantage points to detect missile launches and issue alerts as well as space-based interceptors to target and neutralize hostile missiles. Golden Dome would also include advanced communication systems and additional layers of sensors from terrestrial and maritime platforms.
It would be one of the largest space-related, defense acquisition program in Pentagon history.
Golden Dome represents a revival of space-based missile defense ideas dating back to Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, colloquially known as “Star Wars.” It is part of the increased militarization of space as a warfighting domain, which Space Force leadership increasingly seeks to control while developing space-based weapons.
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With a 35-year legacy of trusted reporting, SpaceNews is uniquely positioned to lead the conversation around the U.S. Department of Defense’s Golden Dome initiative. This Mission Brief email series and other new products are reaching reaching thousands of public and private stakeholders who want to better understand the project and what their role in its execution might be. Partner with SpaceNews today to reach this critical audience. Learn more
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With a 35-year legacy of trusted reporting, SpaceNews is uniquely positioned to lead the conversation around the U.S. Department of Defense’s Golden Dome initiative. This Mission Brief email series and other new products are reaching reaching thousands of public and private stakeholders who want to understand the project and what their role in its execution might be. Partner with SpaceNews today to reach this critical audience. Learn more
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The logic behind Golden Dome is that as militaries around the world develop sophisticated new missile and weapon technology, missile defense must also advance in order to block or counter these new threats, should they be used by adversaries against the U.S. or its allies.
In addition to ballistic missiles, military and political leaders have said that they’re particularly worried about sophisticated weapons such as drone swarms, advanced cruise missiles, hypersonic missiles and space-based weapons such as orbital bombardment systems and anti-satellite technology.
Consider the DIA release. The agency reported that China and Russia are fielding novel missile delivery systems to exploit the blind spots of U.S. defenses. It comes at a time when Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has said that current ground-based missile defense systems in Alaska and California are insufficient to protect against these emerging capabilities.
As a result of the threat situation, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military and political leaders have treated Golden Dome as a protected priority amidst other budget cuts.
Now, Sen. Tim Sheehy, (R-Mont), has said the defense community should treat this initiative as a national moonshot, citing its technical complexity and the urgency of restoring U.S. deterrence in an era of peer-on-peer competition.
Golden Dome is "on the magnitude of the Manhattan Project,” said Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations who will lead the project. “It’s going to take a concerted effort from the very top of our government. It’s going to take national will to bring all this together. It’s going to be a heavy lift across all the organizations that are going to be participating. And what we’ve got to really push back on are the organizational boundaries and the cultures that are going to try to slow us down or to prevent us from working together."
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In two weeks: We’ll dive into the budget proposals for Golden Dome, an early look at the schedule and the challenges the government faces in pulling off one of the largest defense programs in the country’s history.
Remember, if you have any questions you'd like to see addressed in future editions of this series, hit reply and let us know. Until then, follow all our coverage at SpaceNews.com, sign up for our other newsletters and subscribe to SpaceNews.
Thanks for reading.
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