COLORADO SPRINGS — The head of the U.S. Space Force sought to clear up confusion about the Trump administration’s ambitious missile defense initiative known as Golden Dome, emphasizing that it represents a complex network of systems rather than a single procurement program.
“It’s not a system. There’s not going to be a ‘Golden Dome delivered,’” Gen. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said April 9 at a news conference during the Space Symposium. “It’s a system of systems that has to work together. And so there won’t be a single contract vehicle. There will be multiple programs that are brought to bear to solve that mission against the threats.”
The Golden Dome initiative, established through a White House executive order, aims to create a comprehensive shield protecting the United States against an array of missile threats, including ballistic, hypersonic and advanced cruise missiles.
The system’s core components would include space-based sensors and missile interceptors, utilizing orbital vantage points for early detection and rapid response.
The Pentagon has been directed to develop an “architecture” for this missile defense shield — essentially designing the structure of the network, how its components will be organized, and how they will interact with each other.
Saltzman said this work remains in early stages. “We’re nowhere near” finalizing an architecture, he said. “We’re doing the planning. We’re looking at what resources might be available, which programs are currently developed that might contribute to it. And that is all still way pre-decisional.”
Leveraging existing programs
Among the space programs already in development that could contribute to Golden Dome are infrared sensor satellite networks being developed by the Missile Defense Agency and the Space Force’s Space Development Agency. The executive order also calls for space-based interceptors designed to destroy enemy missiles in flight.
“That’s work to be done,” said Saltzman. “We’ve got to continue to think through that for those new systems.”
Defense analysts note that the concept of a comprehensive missile shield has been pursued by multiple administrations since the Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative, often colloquially known as “Star Wars.” However, technological limitations and geopolitical complications have historically prevented full implementation.
Fast-tracking development
Saltzman emphasized that the traditional Pentagon acquisition timeline would be too slow for this initiative. “If this were a traditional Pentagon development program, it could take 12 to 17 years to develop it,” he said. Instead, the focus is on what can be accomplished more rapidly: “What can we do in the next two to four years? Let’s talk about that.”
To accelerate development, the Missile Defense Agency and Space Development Agency have issued requests for information to the private sector to assess “the art of the possible,” according to Saltzman. This industry collaboration is seen as critical to meeting the ambitious timeline.
“Until you have that discussion, you can’t say what it will cost,” he added.
While the administration has not provided a cost estimate for the Golden Dome initiative, defense budget experts anticipate it could potentially cost tens of billions of dollars over the next decade, depending on its final scope.
Saltzman outlined the budgetary approach: “If you don’t do the initial survey of what’s out there, if you don’t structure it under one system of systems, then you can’t properly budget for it. You can’t properly design the programs and the acquisition strategies to get after it.”
He indicated that the Pentagon plans to present the White House with preliminary findings from its analysis. “I believe what’s going to go back to the White House is a large discussion of that. Here are the systems that have basically been identified. Here are the programs that we have to invest in. And here are some rough orders of magnitude in terms of cost,” he said.
He warned against perfection becoming the enemy of progress: “If we wait and try to engineer this to the perfect solution, we will never get started. We will not get there fast enough. And so mission analysis is step one of this iterative process.”
