COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Space Command announced on Wednesday that it has developed and sent a set of options for President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for evaluation and approval. The directive for this advanced defense system was issued by Trump in the early days of his administration. If successful, it would be the inaugural instance in which the U.S. deploys space weaponry intended to obliterate ground-launched missiles shortly after they are fired.
In a January executive order, Trump mandated the military to submit recommendations regarding the design and structure of the overall system within a 60-day timeframe. Recent technological advancements, such as the notable Chinese launch in 2021 of a hypersonic warhead system that orbited before reentry, have intensified discussions within the U.S. military over the need for more robust missile defense mechanisms.
“It’s imperative that we can now assert the necessity for space-based fires and weapons systems, including orbital interceptors,” stated Gen. Stephen Whiting, leader of U.S. Space Command, during his presentation at the Space Symposium, an industry gathering currently taking place in Colorado. “These are weapons we require to dissuade potential space confrontations and to prevail should a conflict arise.”
Numerous options were formulated, scrutinized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and subsequently forwarded to Hegseth, according to Col. Matthew Wroten, who oversees global warfare requirements for Space Command. However, specific details of these options were not disclosed.
The Defense Department has assured the delivery of these options to Trump, consistent with the guidelines set forth in his executive order. While Space Command has not yet publicly estimated the total cost of a space-oriented defense strategy, Wroten confirmed that the options submitted to Hegseth do include projected expenses. Recently, Trump revealed plans for a defense budget proposal for 2026 approaching $1 trillion.
Originally termed Iron Dome, the initiative underwent a name change in February, becoming known as Golden Dome. Wroten indicated that Space Command is now advancing towards defining precise specifications for Golden Dome. These specifications will assess necessary capabilities and, significantly for defense corporations attending the symposium, determine which commercially available technologies will be pursued to establish an initial system within a few years.
The administration has elaborated that Golden Dome will integrate current missile defense systems alongside novel space-based technologies into a comprehensive, multilayered defensive architecture. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan put forth a comparable concept of space-based defense with the Strategic Defense Initiative, often dubbed “Star Wars.” Nonetheless, this initiative faltered due to technological constraints and cost-related obstacles.