Space force awards secret contracts for Golden Dome interceptors

Space Force Awards Secret Contracts for Golden Dome Interceptors

The US Space Force awarded multiple small contracts to develop prototypes for space-based interceptors, looking for progress with a technology that has yet to be proven but forms a crucial part of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile-defense umbrella.

The contracts, awarded to unidentified companies that the Space Force didn’t identify, were under $9 million each and fall below defense contract regulation thresholds for detailed disclosure, according to a Space Force acquisition branch statement to Bloomberg News.

“The selection process was robust and thorough,” the Space Force statement said. It is looking to “lead a fast-paced effort in partnership with industry to develop, demonstrate and deliver prototype interceptors.” It said contractor names weren’t released “as they are protected by enhanced security measures.”

The announcement marks one of the first sets of awards for hardware for the Golden Dome, according to Tom Karako, a missile defense analyst at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “But space-based interceptors and their ground systems and fire control are just one piece of the larger architecture.”

“It’s time to get moving on the more complete picture,” Karako said. “It’s already past time to release more information about the larger vision” and get more on contract, he said.

The awards were issued using a streamlined acquisition tool known as “Other Transaction Authority,” which is often employed in software contracts. The secrecy surrounding award details tracks with a practice of non-disclosure for a program that Trump has said will cost $175 billion and be operational by the end of his term. Experts argue that the system will cost far more and take much longer to build.

Among the system’s many challenges will be developing the technology to make it work — including for space-based interceptors.

In a Sept. 29 assessment, Congressional Research Service analyst Hannah Dennis reviewed some of those challenges, including the “degree to which systems can differentiate between missiles, debris, and decoys.”

One unanswered question is how much to date — including the newly disclosed prototypes contracts — has been put on contract. Congress approved $25 billion in funding this year, $5.6 billion of which was earmarked for development of space-based and missile boost phase intercept capabilities.

The program’s architecture “has been established, and the implementation plan is currently undergoing review,” said a Pentagon statement. “Recognizing adversaries’ intent to exploit Golden Dome’s breakthroughs, we are rigorously protecting America’s strategic advantages inherent in this program.”