Elon Musk’s Spacex is the precursor to build Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ rocket shield: Resources

Spacex and two Elon Musk partners have appeared as a precursor to gaining a crucial part of President Donald Trump’s missile protection protection “Dome Golden Dome”, said six people familiar with the issue.

Rocket and Musk’s satellite company is partnership with the Parantir software manufacturer and the a anduril drone builder in an effort to build the main parts of the Golden Cup, sources said, which has attracted significant interest from the growing basis of the protection technology sector.

In his January 27 executive order, Trump cited a missile attack as “the most catastrophic threat that the United States faces.”

All three companies were founded by entrepreneurs who have been great political supporters of Trump. Musk has donated more than a quarter billion dollars to help choose Trump, and now serves as a special adviser to the president, working to reduce government spending through his government efficiency department.

Despite Pentagon’s positive signals in the Spacex group, some sources emphasized the process of decision on Trump’s golden cube is in its early stages. Its final structure and who is chosen to work on it can change dramatically in the coming months.

All three companies met with senior officials in the Trump administration and Pentagon in recent weeks to set up their own plan, which would build and launch 400 in more than 1,000 satellites circulating the globe to understand rockets and follow their movement, sources said.

A special fleet of 200 satellites armed with rocket or laser would overthrow enemy missiles down, three of the sources said. The Spacex group is not expected to be included in the satellite weapon, these sources said.

One of the sources familiar with the talks described them as “a departure from the usual purchase process. There is an attitude that the national security and protection community must be sensitive and different to Elon Musk because of its role in government.”

Spacex and Musk have refused to comment on whether Musk is involved in any of the discussions or negotiations involving federal contracts with his businesses.

The Pentagon did not answer detailed questions from Reuters, only by saying he will provide “options to the President for his decision in accordance with the executive order and in accordance with the Instructions and Time of the White House.”

The White House, Spacex, Parantir and Anduril also did not answer the questions. After the publication, Musk responded to a post about Reuters’s story on his social network X without elaborating: “This is not true.”

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In an unusual turn, Spacex has proposed creating its role in the Golden Dome as a “reconciliation service” in which the government would pay for access to technology, rather than having the system completely.

The reconciliation model, which has not been reported earlier, can skip some Pentagon procurement protocols, allowing the system to roll faster, both sources said. While the approach would not violate any rules, the government could be closed in reconciliation and lose control of its continued development and prices, they added.

Some Pentagon officials have expressed concerns from within to rely on the reconciliation -based model for each part of the Golden Cup, told two Reuters sources. Such an agreement would be unusual for such a big and critical defense program.

US Spatial Force General Michael Guetlein has been in talks if Spacex should be the owner and operator of his system part, both sources said. Other options include the US to own and operate the system, or to have what it owns while contractors deal with operations. Guetlein did not respond to a comment request.

Retired O’Shaughnessy Air Force General, a senior Spacex adviser in Musk, has been involved in the company’s latest discussions with senior defense and intelligence leaders, both sources said. O’Shaughnessy did not respond to requests for comment.

If the group led by Spacex wins a Golden Cup contract, it would be the biggest victory for Silicon Valley in the lucrative protection contracting industry and a blow to traditional contractors.

However, those tall contractors, such as Northrop Grumman, Boeing and RTX are expected to be big players in the process, people familiar with companies said. Lockheed Martin placed a website as part of its marketing efforts.

Many offers

The Pentagon has received interest from more than 180 companies prone to help develop and build the Golden Cup, according to a US official, including the beginnings of defense such as Epirus, Usa Major and Armada. The members of the White House National Security Council were informed by a small number of companies about their skills, four sources said.

The Pentagon number two, former private capital investor Steve Feinberg, will be a major decision maker for Golden Dome, two US defense officials said.

Feinberg co-founded Cerberus Capital Management, who has invested in the front but not Spacex hypersonic missile industry. Feinberg, who did not respond to a comment request, said he would divert all his interests in Cerberus when he joined the administration.

Some experts believe that the overall cost for the Golden Cup can reach hundreds of billions of dollars. The Pentagon set some deadlines for the skills to be submitted, starting in early 2026 for those submitted after 2030.

Laura Grego, director of research in the nonprofit union of disturbed scientists, questioned the feasibility of such a defensive system given that numerous studies have concluded that it is a “bad, expensive and tangible idea”.

“Such a system can be overloaded by starting multiple weapons at the same time, pushing the required protection size to a large number – potentially in tens of thousands of satellites,” Grego said.

Spacex is part of the part of the Golden Cup initiative called the “Custodian Layer”, a constellation of satellites who would detect missiles, track their trajectory and determine whether they are heading to the SH.BA, according to the two sources known for the goals of Spacex.

Spacex has evaluated preliminary engineering and design work for the satellite custody layer would cost between $ 6 billion and $ 10 billion, two of the sources said. In the last five years, Spacex has launched hundreds of operational spy satellites and more recently some prototypes, which can be retrained to the project, sources said.

Reuters reviewed an internal pentagon memorandum by Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth issued shortly before the 28 February deadline for the old Pentagon leadership asking them for initial proposals of golden cubes and demanding “accelerating” satellite constellations.

The time frame could give a spacex advantage due to its missile fleet, including Falcon 9, and existing satellites that could be reburied for the rocket shield, people familiar with the plan said.

Despite these advantages, some of those familiar with discussions said it was unsafe if the Spacex group would be able to effectively create a new technology system in a cost effective way that could protect the United States from attack.

“It remains to be seen if Spacex and these technology companies will be able to attract any of these,” said one of the sources. “They have never had to submit a whole system that the nation will have to be supported for its protection.”