Trump's Golden Dome looks for alternatives to Elon Musk's SpaceX

The Hindu

2 days ago

The U.S. Trump administration is expanding its search for partners to build the Golden Dome missile defense system, courting Amazon.com's Project Kuiper and big defence contractors as tensions with Elon Musk threaten SpaceX's dominance in the program, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The shift marks a strategic pivot away from reliance on Musk's SpaceX, whose Starlink and Starshield satellite networks have become central to U.S. military communications. It comes amid a deteriorating relationship between Trump and Musk, which culminated in a public falling-out on June 5.
Even before the spat, officials at the Pentagon and White House had begun exploring alternatives to SpaceX, wary of over-reliance on a single partner for huge portions of the ambitious, $175 billion space-based defense shield, two of the sources said. SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment. Responding to a post about 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 size, track record of launching more than 9,000 of its own Starlink satellites, and experience in government procurement, SpaceX still has the inside track to assist with major portions of the Golden Dome, especially launch contracts, sources say.
Project Kuiper, which has launched just 78 of a planned constellation of 3,000 low-earth orbit satellites, has been approached by the Pentagon to join the effort, signaling the administration's openness to integrating commercial tech firms into national defense infrastructure and going beyond traditional defense players.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon's executive chairman, told Reuters in January that Kuiper would be "primarily commercial," but acknowledged "there will be defense uses for these [low-earth orbit] constellations, no doubt."
A spokesperson for Project Kuiper declined to comment for this story. The Pentagon declined to comment. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Golden Dome's ambitions mirror those of Israel's Iron Dome, a homeland missile defence shield, but a larger, more complex layered defence system requires a vast network of orbiting satellites covering more territory.
In the search for more vendors for the satellite layers of Golden Dome, "Kuiper is a big one," a U.S. official said. While SpaceX remains a frontrunner due to its unmatched launch capabilities, its share of the programme could shrink, two of the people said. Officials have reached out to new entrants like rocket companies Stoke Space and Rocket Lab are gaining traction and will be able to bid on individual launches as the programme matures, according to the U.S. official.
Later in the development of Golden Dome "each individual launch is going to get bid, and we have to actually give bids to other people," besides SpaceX, the official said.
There is an urgent need for more satellite production. Last year Congress gave Space Force a $13 billion mandate, up from $900 million, to buy satellite-based communication services in what was widely seen as one of many efforts to stimulate private sector satellite production. Amazon's Project Kuiper, a $10 billion initiative led by former Starlink managers dismissed by Musk for slow progress, Reuters has reported, has lagged behind SpaceX in deployment. But its potential defence applications, such as communications that could aid missile tracking, have drawn renewed interest as the administration prepares to allocate the first $25 billion tranche of funding authorised under Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill.
Traditional defence giants Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris are also in talks to support Golden Dome. L3Harris CFO Kenneth Bedingfield told Reuters in an interview the company has seen a surge in interest in its missile warning and tracking technologies, which are expected to play a key role in the system.
Northrop, meanwhile, is pursuing several efforts including a space-based interceptor, a component that would enable missile strikes from orbit, Robert Fleming, the head of the company's space business, told 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, said in a statement. Golden Dome's initial outreach this spring invited smaller, newer Silicon Valley firms seen as nimbler, more sophisticated and potentially less expensive alternatives to the big defence firms to the table, but that was before the Musk-Trump feud upended that calculus. Several with close ties to Trump aside from SpaceX, including Palantir and Anduril, were considered early frontrunners to win big pieces of the $175 billion project.
But the Musk-Trump feud has reshaped the competitive landscape. Musk recently launched the "America Party," a tech-centric, centrist political movement aimed at defeating Republicans who backed Trump's tax-and-spend agenda.
Trump launched the Golden Dome initiative just a week into his second term, pushing for rapid deployment. Space Force General Michael Guetlein, confirmed by the Senate on July 17, is set to lead the programme with sweeping authority.
Under a previously unreported directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Guetlein has 30 days from confirmation to build a team, 60 days to deliver an initial system design, and 120 days to present a full implementation plan, including satellite and ground station details, two people briefed on the memo said.
Hours after Reuters published its story Tuesday morning, the Pentagon issued a press release acknowledging that an architecture for Golden Dome will be "developed within the next 60 days." The inclusion of commercial platforms like Kuiper raises security concerns. Its satellites would need to be hardened against cyberattacks and electronic warfare, a challenge that has plagued even SpaceX's Starlink network. In May 2024, Elon Musk said SpaceX was spending "significant resources combating Russian jamming efforts. This is a tough problem."
Beyond the technical and political challenges, Golden Dome could reshape global security dynamics. A fully operational space-based missile shield may prompt adversaries to develop new offensive capabilities or accelerate the militarisation of space.
Still, established defense players like Lockheed and RTX, formerly Raytheon, will likely be at the front of the line for contracts. Executives at RTX, maker of the Patriot missile defense system, said on Tuesday they believe the system is going to be integral to Golden Dome "especially if you want to make a significant impact over the next 2 to 3 years."