Space Force awards 11 firms prototype deals to build orbital interceptors
The United States Space Force (USSF) has awarded eleven companies contracts to develop space-based interceptors for President Trump's Golden Dome program, in agreements worth up to $3.2 billion.
Raytheon, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are among the familiar defense contractors named in the list, alongside newer tech firms including Anduril and True Anomaly Inc, which focuses exclusively on space defense.
The awards use Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, which allow prototype research and development outside standard federal acquisition rules, giving the government flexibility to select a provider without being locked into a single contractor.
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The Space-Based Interceptor (SBI) program was established last year, as part of the Golden Dome of America program. This stems from one of Trump's first Executive Orders after his 2025 inauguration, which called for a system to defend the US against ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, as well as "other advanced aerial attacks."
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The Space Force argues the global strategic landscape has shifted enough to require combining existing missile defense systems with next-generation space-based tracking and AI-enabled interceptors. The latter is necessary to "counter the speed, manoeuvrability, and lethality of the threats."
Bryon McClain, program head and USSF Colonel, said OTAs allow the Space Force to bring in both traditional and non-traditional vendors to take advantage of some of the more innovation-focused startups.
The overall Golden Dome initiative, however, was met with scepticism, as The Register reported last year.
The Union of Concerned Scientists estimated [PDF] that an effective space-based interceptor network would require hundreds to several thousand orbiting interceptors and cost (at the time) at least $300 billion, which was roughly 10 times the price of ground-based alternatives.
Some Reg readers will no doubt recall President Reagen's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in the 1980s, which similarly aimed to protect the US against attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. It was largely abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
America currently operates the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system with 40 interceptor rockets in Alaska and four in California, primarily to protect against potential ballistic missile launches from North Korea. This cost around $350 billion to set up and around $4 billion a year to operate. It reportedly works 57 percent of the time in tests.
Further details of the SBI program will be withheld due to "operational security requirements," the Space Force said.