The shift marks a strategic pivot away from reliance on Musk’s SpaceX, whose Starlink and Starshield satellite tv for pc networks have change into central to U.S. navy communications. It comes amid a deteriorating relationship between Trump and Musk, which culminated in a public falling-out on June 5.
Even earlier than the spat, officers on the Pentagon and White House had begun exploring alternate options to SpaceX, cautious of over-reliance on a single associate for large parts of the formidable, $175 billion space-based protection defend, two of the sources stated. SpaceX didn’t reply to requests for remark. Responding to a put up concerning the Reuters story on X, Musk wrote, “Federal acquisition regulations require using the best provider at the best price. Anything else would be breaking the law.”
Due to its measurement, observe file of launching greater than 9,000 of its personal Starlink satellites, and expertise in authorities procurement, SpaceX nonetheless has the within observe to help with main parts of the Golden Dome, particularly launch contracts, sources say.
Project Kuiper, which has launched simply 78 of a deliberate constellation of three,000 low-earth orbit satellites, has been approached by the Pentagon to hitch the trouble, signaling the administration’s openness to integrating business tech companies into nationwide protection infrastructure and going past conventional protection gamers.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s govt chairman, instructed Reuters in January that Kuiper could be “primarily commercial,” however acknowledged “there will be defense uses for these [low-earth orbit] constellations, no doubt.”
A spokesperson for Project Kuiper declined to remark for this story. The Pentagon declined to remark. The White House didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Golden Dome’s ambitions mirror these of Israel’s Iron Dome, a homeland missile defence defend, however a bigger, extra advanced layered defence system requires an unlimited community of orbiting satellites protecting extra territory.
In the seek for extra distributors for the satellite tv for pc layers of Golden Dome, “Kuiper is a big one,” a U.S. official stated. While SpaceX stays a frontrunner as a consequence of its unmatched launch capabilities, its share of the programme may shrink, two of the individuals stated. Officials have reached out to new entrants like rocket corporations Stoke Space and Rocket Lab are gaining traction and can be capable to bid on particular person launches because the programme matures, in accordance with the U.S. official.
Later within the growth of Golden Dome “each individual launch is going to get bid, and we have to actually give bids to other people,” in addition to SpaceX, the official stated.
There is an pressing want for extra satellite tv for pc manufacturing. Last yr Congress gave Space Force a $13 billion mandate, up from $900 million, to purchase satellite-based communication companies in what was broadly seen as one in all many efforts to stimulate personal sector satellite tv for pc manufacturing. Amazon’s Project Kuiper, a $10 billion initiative led by former Starlink managers dismissed by Musk for sluggish progress, Reuters has reported, has lagged behind SpaceX in deployment. But its potential defence functions, similar to communications that might support missile monitoring, have drawn renewed curiosity because the administration prepares to allocate the primary $25 billion tranche of funding authorised beneath Trump’s sweeping tax and spending invoice.
Traditional defence giants Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris are additionally in talks to help Golden Dome. L3Harris CFO Kenneth Bedingfield instructed Reuters in an interview the corporate has seen a surge in curiosity in its missile warning and monitoring applied sciences, that are anticipated to play a key position within the system.
Northrop, in the meantime, is pursuing a number of efforts together with a space-based interceptor, a part that might allow missile strikes from orbit, Robert Fleming, the pinnacle of the corporate’s house enterprise, instructed Reuters in an interview.
“Lockheed Martin is ready to support Golden Dome for America as a proven mission partner,” Robert Lightfoot, president of Lockheed Martin Space, stated in a press release. Golden Dome’s preliminary outreach this spring invited smaller, newer Silicon Valley companies seen as nimbler, extra refined and doubtlessly inexpensive alternate options to the massive defence companies to the desk, however that was earlier than the Musk-Trump feud upended that calculus. Several with shut ties to Trump apart from SpaceX, together with Palantir and Anduril, have been thought of early frontrunners to win huge items of the $175 billion challenge.
But the Musk-Trump feud has reshaped the aggressive panorama. Musk lately launched the “America Party,” a tech-centric, centrist political motion aimed toward defeating Republicans who backed Trump’s tax-and-spend agenda.
Trump launched the Golden Dome initiative only a week into his second time period, pushing for fast deployment. Space Force General Michael Guetlein, confirmed by the Senate on July 17, is ready to steer the programme with sweeping authority.
Under a beforehand unreported directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Guetlein has 30 days from affirmation to construct a crew, 60 days to ship an preliminary system design, and 120 days to current a full implementation plan, together with satellite tv for pc and floor station particulars, two individuals briefed on the memo stated.
Hours after Reuters printed its story Tuesday morning, the Pentagon issued a press launch acknowledging that an structure for Golden Dome will probably be “developed within the next 60 days.” The inclusion of business platforms like Kuiper raises safety considerations. Its satellites would must be hardened towards cyberattacks and digital warfare, a problem that has plagued even SpaceX’s Starlink community. In May 2024, Elon Musk stated SpaceX was spending “significant resources combating Russian jamming efforts. This is a tough problem.”
Beyond the technical and political challenges, Golden Dome may reshape world safety dynamics. A totally operational space-based missile defend could immediate adversaries to develop new offensive capabilities or speed up the militarisation of house.
Still, established protection gamers like Lockheed and RTX, previously Raytheon, will possible be on the entrance of the road for contracts. Executives at RTX, maker of the Patriot missile protection system, stated on Tuesday they imagine the system goes to be integral to Golden Dome “especially if you want to make a significant impact over the next 2 to 3 years.”
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