Space Force names 12 companies to develop Golden Dome’s space-based interceptors
The Space Force’s acquisition arm announced on Friday the 12 companies who have received contracts to develop space-based interceptor (SBI) prototypes for President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome.
The service awarded other transaction authority (OTA) agreements — worth up to a combined $3.2 billion — to the vendors in late 2025 and early 2026, according to a Space Systems Command press release. Under the contracts, the companies will develop prototypes of a space-based architecture that can shoot down enemy missiles after they’re launched.
The companies that received OTAs are Anduril, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Mission Systems, GITAI USA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar, Raytheon, Sci-Tec, SpaceX, True Anomaly and Turion Space Corp.
SBIs are one of the key capabilities under Trump’s Golden Dome effort, which aims to field a sprawling missile defense architecture to protect the U.S. homeland against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles and other aerial threats. The program is expected to cost $185 billion, with an initial capability delivered by 2028 and a complete architecture expected in the mid-2030s.
Prototypes developed under the SBI program are slated for demonstration and integration into the Golden Dome architecture by 2028, Col. Bryon McClain, program executive officer for space combat power, said in a statement.
The SBI systems are specifically being designed to be a constellation in proliferated low-Earth orbit (pLEO) carrying kinetic interceptors that can destroy missiles during the boost, midcourse and glide phases of flight, according to SSC.
The Pentagon is asking for $17.5 billion in fiscal 2027 for the Golden Dome program, with just $398 million of that request coming from the base budget. The remaining funds bank on Congress passing another reconciliation package in the future.
The program is being managed by an enterprise Office of Golden Dome for America led by Gen. Michael Guetlein, but other services and organizations within the Pentagon are contributing to the architecture — such as by providing legacy systems and developing new capabilities — with their own resources.
Although the concept of shooting missiles from space has been around since the 1980s, SBIs have only recently become feasible due to advancements in technology and low costs of space launch.
Still, experts have noted that there are multiple technical hurdles of developing SBIs at the capacity expected for Golden Dome.
In pre-solicitation notices sent to industry last year, SSC noted that it was considering a prize competition model for the SBI program, which would require contractors to compete for relatively small awards with prototypes developed with internal funding.
The service did not specify if the new OTAs are structured as a prize competition.
“Adversary capabilities are advancing rapidly, and our acquisition strategies must move even faster to counter the growing speed and maneuverability of modern missile threats,” McClain said in a statement. “Utilizing Other Transaction Authority agreements, we attracted both traditional and non-traditional vendors, while harnessing American innovation, and ensuring continuous competition.”
