Growing cost estimates for the Golden Dome
Posted: 26th March 2026
MARCH 25, 2026
Welcome to the latest edition of our Golden Dome series, where we bring you the latest news and analysis on the White House’s proposed missile defense system. Have questions you’d like answered in a future installment? Reply and let us know. Did someone forward you this email?GE2VaSh75_5yw1JUuhu1nUhvgPxj-03X8PFIIGc65Wqz0y.0eJu2XJziNH3jvYxYoHGIFad6e4tNNxKU.BxPbKRia”>both figures were off by orders of magnitude. But the official budget recently grew for the first time. Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Space Force general who’s in charge of the Space Force program, GE2VaSh75_5yw1JUuhu1nUhvgPxj-03X8PFIIGc65Wqz0y.0eJu2XJziNH3jvYxYoHGIFad7.4tNNxKU.BxPbKRia”>Military Space newsletter, SpaceNews’ Sandra Erwin broke down where that additional money is likely to be going. Guetlein highlighted three main categories:
- Air Moving Target Indicator sensors, which will allow Golden Dome assets to track projectiles such as hypersonic weapons that don’t follow predictable trajectories;
- A space-based communications architecture that would network space- and ground-based systems; and
- The Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor layer, a constellation designed to detect and continuously track missiles and hypersonic weapons.
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As global threats intensify, L3Harris’ next-generation missile defense systems stand ready to protect the nation. Trusted to deliver unparalleled on-orbit solutions, L3Harris production lines are ready to develop a resilient shield for America. GE2VaSh75_5yw1JUuhu1nUhvgPxj-03X8PFIIGc65Wqz0y.0eJu2XJziNH3jvYxYoHGIFae5w4tNNxKU.BxPbKRia”>SpaceNews’ Debra Werner reported, “National missile defense is fundamentally a big-data problem. Companies work with government agencies to fuse datasets from a variety of ground- and space-based sensors to tackle the increasingly complex challenge of identifying and tracking missiles.”
But “there’s no one sensor to rule them all,” Robin Dickey, Slingshot Aerospace director of policy and government affairs said during a panel at the 2026 Satellite Conference. Raw data gathered by sensors designed for different purposes, working with different software or operating at different clearance levels could be integrated to paint a more complete picture of missile threats, but that integration hasn’t yet happened.
Electronic warfare a growing threat, Space Force intelligence says
The Space Force is increasingly concerned about the threat electronic warfare poses to space assets, especially low Earth orbit constellations. Space Force Chief Master Sergeant Ron Lerch, senior enlisted advisor to the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence, GE2VaSh75_5yw1JUuhu1nUhvgPxj-03X8PFIIGc65Wqz0y.0eJu2XJziNH3jvYxYoHGIFae5O4tNNxKU.BxPbKRia”>announced it won a $190 million Pentagon contract for 20 hypersonic test flights. The Pentagon’s focus on testing reflects a persistent constraint in hypersonic development. While the Defense Department is pursuing a large number of programs, access to flight tests has remained limited by cost, range availability and scheduling.
Voyager Technologies GE2VaSh75_5yw1JUuhu1nUhvgPxj-03X8PFIIGc65Wqz0y.0eJu2XJziNH3jvYxYoHGIFae6w4tNNxKU.BxPbKRia”>won a $446.8 million contractfrom the U.S. Space Force to build and operate the ground system for a new constellation of missile-warning satellites in medium Earth orbit. The contract covers ground management and integration for the service’s Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking program.
The U.S. Air Force has increased by $2 billion the value of a FROM SPACENEWS