Golden Dome Missile Defense Plan With $175 Billion Price Tag Announced by Trump

Insider Brief

• The U.S. Department of Defense has selected an architecture for “Golden Dome,” a $175 billion missile defense system that will deploy weapons in space for the first time, combining land-, sea-, and space-based technologies.
• Golden Dome will consist of four defensive layers: pre-launch disruption, boost-phase interception, midcourse interception in space, and terminal-phase defense; initial funding of $25 billion is included in President Trump’s proposed budget.
• The system will build on existing missile defense assets while adding space-based interceptors and sensors, with oversight by Gen. Michael Guetlein and full coordination across NORAD, USNORTHCOM, and USSPACECOM; China and Russia have criticized the initiative as destabilizing and militarizing space.

Golden Dome is expected to cost $175 billion, President Donald Trump said as he announced the Department of Defense has selected a plan for the missile defense system that would put U.S. weapons in space for the first time.

“Today, I’m pleased to announce we have officially selected an architecture for this state-of-the-art system that will deploy next-generation technology across the land, sea, and space, and including space-based sensors and interceptors,” Trump said during the May 20 announcement in the Oval Office. Trump noted the first $25 billion for Golden Dome is part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” budget proposal currently working its way through Congress.

While Trump stated the system, one first proposed four decades ago by President Ronald Reagan, would be fully operational by the end of his term in 2029, U.S. officials indicated that a limited capability might be more realistic within that timeframe, the AP reported.

Golden Dome aims to create a four-layered defense strategy. The first tier focuses on pre-launch disruption, targeting enemy capabilities before a missile is fired. The second stage centers on intercepting the missile during its boost phase, when it is most visible and vulnerable. The third targets midcourse interception in space, while the final layer provides terminal phase defense as a missile approaches its target, according to the AP.

“The Golden Dome is a game changer,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at the announcement.

According to the Department of Defense, the Golden Dome will build on existing missile defense infrastructure but add a new layer of space-based interceptors and sensors, marking a shift in how the U.S. intends to deter and defeat aerial threats. Current systems such as ground-based interceptors and sea-launched missile defense assets will remain in operation. The initiative is being coordinated with NORAD, USNORTHCOM, and USSPACECOM to ensure full interoperability.

In early May, the Congressional Budget Office lowered cost estimates for deploying and operating space-based interceptors over 20 years, citing lower launch costs. The CBO estimates it to be $161 billion (in 2025 dollars) for the lowest-cost option, down from $264 billion, and $542 billion, down from $831 billion, for the highest-cost alternative.

Oversight of Golden Dome will fall to Gen. Michael Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations, reflecting the elevated role of the U.S. Space Force in future defense planning. Guetlein is expected to coordinate across military branches and defense contractors to accelerate development and deployment.

While technical specifications remain limited, at the announcement Guetlein stressed the need for defense systems capable of intercepting the increasingly advanced missiles being developed around the world, including ballistic missiles with multiple nuclear warheads, hypersonic missiles, and cruise missiles capable of avoiding U.S. detection, along with potential space-based weapons of the future.

In March, Guetlein said at the McAleese Defense Programs Conference in Washington that China and Russia have developed counterspace capabilities such as jamming, spoofing, cyberattacks and directed-energy weapons. Guetlein also said American adversaries were practicing orbital engagements, including shadowing U.S. satellites and testing anti-satellite weapons.

In a joint statement in early May, China and Russia called the Golden Dome proposal “deeply destabilizing in nature” and that they “oppose the attempts of individual countries to use outer space for armed confrontation and will counter security policies and activities aimed at achieving military superiority.”