Elon Musk’s SpaceX has emerged as the frontrunner to win a crucial part of Donald Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence shield, alongside two other Trump-aligned partners, several people familiar with the matter have said.
The billionaire owner of Tesla and Trump ally is partnering with software company Palantir and drone manufacturer Anduril in a build to build key parts of Golden Dome, the six sources said. The lucrative contract has drawn significant interest from the tech sector’s growing base of defence startups.
On 27 January, Trump named a potential missile attack as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States” whilst delivering his executive order. Based on Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ defence system, his proposed ‘Golden Dome’ would similarly be designed to provide the US with a robust anti-missile system.
Defence company Lockheed Martin describes the project as an “impenetrable shield, safeguarding the American homeland with unwavering precision.” It is of a similar scale to the Manhattan Project, it adds, which led to the production of the first nuclear weapons.
SpaceX, Palantir and Anduril were all founded by entrepreneurs who have been major political supporters of Trump. Musk has donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump, and now serves as a special adviser to the president working to cut government spending through his Department of Government Efficiency.
Despite the Pentagon’s positive signals to the SpaceX group, some sources stressed the decision process for Trump’s Golden Dome is in its early stages. Its ultimate structure and who is selected to work on it could change dramatically in the coming months.
The three companies met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon in recent weeks to pitch their plan, which would build and launch 400 to more than 1,000 satellites circling the globe to sense missiles and track their movement, sources said.
A separate fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers would then bring enemy missiles down, three of the sources said. The SpaceX group is not expected to be involved in the weaponisation of satellites, these sources said.
One of the sources familiar with the talks described them as “a departure from the usual acquisition process. There’s an attitude that the national security and defence community has to be sensitive and deferential to Elon Musk because of his role in the government.”
SpaceX and Musk have declined to comment on whether Musk is involved in any of the discussions or negotiations involving federal contracts with his businesses.
The Pentagon did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters, only saying it will deliver “options to the President for his decision in line with the executive order and in alignment with White House guidance and timelines.”
The White House, SpaceX, Palantir, and Anduril also did not respond to questions.
In an unusual twist, SpaceX has proposed setting up its role in Golden Dome as a “subscription service” in which the government would pay for access to the technology, rather than own the system outright.
The subscription model, which has not been previously reported, could skirt some Pentagon procurement protocols allowing the system to be rolled out faster, the two sources said. While the approach would not violate any rules, the government may then be locked into a subscription and lose control over its ongoing development and pricing, they added.
