Elon Musk’s SpaceX and two companions have emerged as frontrunners to win an important a part of President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile protection protect, six folks conversant in the matter mentioned.
Musk’s rocket and satellite tv for pc firm is partnering with software program maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril on a bid to construct key elements of Golden Dome, the sources mentioned, which has drawn vital curiosity from the know-how sector’s burgeoning base of protection startups.
In his Jan. 27 government order, Trump cited a missile assault as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.”
All three firms have been based by entrepreneurs who’ve been main political supporters of Trump. Musk has donated greater than 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} to assist elect Trump, and now serves as a particular adviser to the president, working to chop authorities spending by means of his Division of Authorities Effectivity.
Regardless of the Pentagon’s optimistic alerts to the SpaceX group, some sources pressured the choice course of for Trump’s Golden Dome is in its early levels. Its final construction and who is chosen to work on it may change dramatically within the coming months.
The three firms met with high officers within the Trump administration and the Pentagon in current weeks to pitch their plan, which might construct and launch 400 to greater than 1,000 satellites circling the globe to sense missiles and monitor their motion, sources mentioned.
A separate fleet of 200 assault satellites armed with missiles or lasers would then deliver enemy missiles down, three of the sources mentioned. The SpaceX group will not be anticipated to be concerned within the weaponization of satellites, these sources mentioned.
One of many sources conversant in the talks described them as “a departure from the usual acquisition process. There’s an attitude that the national security and defense community has to be sensitive and deferential to Elon Musk because of his role in the government.”
SpaceX and Musk have declined to touch upon whether or not Musk is concerned in any of the discussions or negotiations involving federal contracts together with his companies.
The Pentagon didn’t reply to detailed questions from Reuters, solely saying it’s going to ship “options to the President for his decision in line with the executive order and in alignment with White House guidance and timelines.”
The White Home, SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril additionally didn’t reply to questions. After publication, Musk replied to a submit about Reuters’ story on his social community X with out elaborating: “This is not true.”
Subscription service
In an uncommon twist, SpaceX has proposed establishing its function in Golden Dome as a “subscription service” by which the federal government would pay for entry to the know-how, reasonably than personal the system outright.
The subscription mannequin, which has not been beforehand reported, may skirt some Pentagon procurement protocols, permitting the system to be rolled out quicker, the 2 sources mentioned. Whereas the strategy wouldn’t violate any guidelines, the federal government might then be locked right into a subscription and lose management over its ongoing growth and pricing, they added.
Some Pentagon officers have expressed considerations internally about counting on the subscription-based mannequin for any a part of the Golden Dome, two sources advised Reuters. Such an association could be uncommon for such a big and significant protection program.
US House Drive Basic Michael Guetlein has been in talks on whether or not SpaceX must be the proprietor and operator of its a part of the system, the 2 sources mentioned. Different choices embody having the US personal and function the system, or having the US personal it whereas contractors deal with operations. Guetlein didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Retired Air Drive Basic Terrence O’Shaughnessy, a high SpaceX advisor to Musk, has been concerned within the firm’s current discussions with senior protection and intelligence leaders, the 2 sources mentioned. O’Shaughnessy didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Ought to the group led by SpaceX win a Golden Dome contract, it might be the largest win for Silicon Valley within the profitable protection contracting trade and a blow to the normal contractors.
Nonetheless, these long-standing contractors, equivalent to Northrop Grumman, Boeing and RTX are anticipated to be large gamers within the course of as properly, folks conversant in the businesses mentioned. Lockheed Martin put up a webpage as part of its advertising efforts.
Many bids
The Pentagon has acquired curiosity from greater than 180 firms eager to assist develop and construct the Golden Dome, based on a US official, together with protection startups like Epirus, Ursa Main and Armada. Members of the White Home’s Nationwide Safety Council have been briefed by a handful of firms about their capabilities, 4 sources mentioned.
The Pentagon’s quantity two, former non-public fairness investor Steve Feinberg, shall be a key decision-maker for Golden Dome, two US protection officers mentioned.
Feinberg co-founded Cerberus Capital Administration, which has invested within the cutting-edge hypersonic missiles trade however not in SpaceX. Feinberg, who didn’t reply to a request for remark, has mentioned he would divest of all his pursuits in Cerberus when he joined the administration.
Some consultants consider the general price for Golden Dome may attain a whole bunch of billions of {dollars}. The Pentagon established a number of timelines for capabilities to be delivered, beginning with early 2026 to these delivered after 2030.
Laura Grego, analysis director on the nonprofit Union of Involved Scientists, questioned the feasibility of such a protection system on condition that a number of research have concluded it’s a “bad idea, expensive and vulnerable.”
“Such a system could be overwhelmed by launching multiple weapons at the same time, pushing the required size of the defense to very large numbers – potentially in the tens of thousands of satellites,” Grego mentioned.
SpaceX is pitching for the a part of the Golden Dome initiative known as the “custody layer,” a constellation of satellites that will detect missiles, monitor their trajectory, and decide if they’re heading towards the US, based on two sources conversant in SpaceX’s targets.
SpaceX has estimated the preliminary engineering and design work for the custody layer of satellites would price between $6 billion and $10 billion, two of the sources mentioned. Within the final 5 years, SpaceX has launched a whole bunch of operational spy satellites and extra not too long ago a number of prototypes, which might be retrofitted for use for the challenge, the sources mentioned.
Reuters reviewed an inside Pentagon memo from Protection Secretary Peter Hegseth issued shortly earlier than a February 28 deadline to senior Pentagon management asking them for preliminary Golden Dome proposals and calling for the “acceleration of the deployment” of constellations of satellites.
The timeframe may give SpaceX a bonus due to its fleet of rockets, together with the Falcon 9, and current satellites that might be repurposed for the missile protection protect, the folks conversant in the plan mentioned.
Regardless of these benefits, a few of these conversant in the discussions mentioned it was unsure whether or not the SpaceX group would be capable of effectively arrange a system with new know-how in a cheap means that may defend the USA from assault.
“It remains to be seen whether SpaceX and these tech companies will be able to pull any of this off,” mentioned one of many sources. “They’ve never had to deliver on an entire system that the nation will need to rely on for its defense.”
