US outlines spending plan for the $175bn Golden Dome missile defence system
By Sean Rayment
The US’s newly unveiled $175 billion Golden Dome missile defence programme is reshaping Pentagon spending priorities and expanding the role of the Space Force, according to a new report by the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.
The missile system is set to become a centerpiece of US defence spending and strategy. Golden Dome will be a multi-layer satellite defence system designed to protect the United States from a range of foreign threats, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles.
The system will rely on a global network of military satellites capable of identifying and neutralising potential threats. However, the costs are substantial, and funding will be crucial for the project to come to fruition, defence experts say.
The administration is proposing about $40.2 billion in fiscal year 2026 funding for the Space Force, driven largely by the space-intensive Golden Dome initiative. This funding comes from two sources: a $26.3 billion appropriations request and an additional $13.8 billion from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a reconciliation law passed in July.
Golden Dome, likened by President Trump to the Reagan administration’s Strategic Defence Initiative, includes plans for space-based sensors and missile interceptors to defend the US against both peer and regional adversaries.
The programme accounts for $15.7 billion of the FY26 space-related reconciliation funding and has been placed under the management of Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, highlighting its space-centric approach.
“The introduction of Golden Dome is arguably the most important development affecting the defence space budget since the inception of the Space Force,” the Aerospace report states.
The administration and congressional armed services committees agreed to allocate $24.4 billion in the reconciliation act to Golden Dome, with President Trump stating that the full project would cost around $175 billion and be initially fielded within three years. Funding includes $9.2 billion for tracking threats from space, $5.6 billion for space-based missile interceptors, and $910 million for launch and test range infrastructure to support Golden Dome operations.
It remains unclear how much of the projected $175 billion represents new spending versus existing programmes.
President Trump “did not clarify how much of that amount would be part of already-planned spending, such as for existing missile warning and tracking programmes, and how much would be allocated to new spending,” the report notes.
For the Space Force, established in 2019, Golden Dome represents a significant expansion of resources and responsibilities. Sam Wilson, budget analyst at the Center for Space Policy and Strategy and author of the report, views the initiative as creating “a major opportunity for the Space Force, as it brings extra resources for some of Space Force’s priorities, such as missile warning satellites that the service already was planning to develop.”
“This is an opportunity to get those funded at higher levels,” Wilson told SpaceNews.
The programme’s prominence is also elevating space issues within broader defence planning. “The emergence of Golden Dome and the priority it’s been given by the administration suggest that anyone focused on understanding the administration’s defence plans needs to pay attention to what’s happening in space,” Wilson noted.
The administration’s emphasis on commercial participation in Golden Dome could benefit newer space firms alongside traditional prime defence contractors.
“Golden Dome looks set to dramatically affect the budget for defence space activities,” the report concludes.
Analysts have said that the programme’s success could determine whether space-based missile defence becomes a cornerstone of US national security strategy—or remains an ambitious but unrealised goal, as occurred with aspects of the original Strategic Defence Initiative in the 1980s.
