How Donald Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile shield built by Elon Musk could work

The Golden Dome is being developed to rival the Iron Dome in Israel,pictured taking out missiles fired from Gaza in 2023 (Picture: Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is the frontrunner to build a missile defence shield to rival Israel’s.

SpaceX’s bid to build the ‘Golden Dome’ shield for US president Donald Trump is currently leading the race,and sources say the company is pitching a ‘subscription model’ for missile defence.

The Golden Dome,comparable to Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system,could be made up of between 400 and 1,000 satellites if SpaceX’s proposal is chosen by the Pentagon.

SpaceX is partnering with two other companies,software company Palantir and drone builder Anduril,in its bid to build key parts of the Golden Dome.

Despite SpaceX’s favourable position,especially considering Elon Musk’s strong support of Trump,sources stressed the decision-making process is still in its early stages.

Why does Donald Trump want to build the Golden Dome?

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are close allies (Picture: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP)

A week after returning to the White House,Trump signed an executive order calling a potential missile attack ‘the most catastrophic threat facing the United States’.

As hypersonic missile technology has improved,the US military has called for new ways to defend against missile strikes.

One more pressing threat is what’s known as a fractional orbital bombardment system,which puts a warhead in orbit before dropping it out of space quickly onto a target.

China already tested one of these systems in 2021,meaning it is ahead of the US and forms a pressing threat for the States to contend with.

The White House has said no expense will be spared to fulfil one of Trump’s main priorities,sources say.

The Pentagon was ordered to come up with an initial blueprint by mid-April,and those plans will be briefed to Trump soon.

What is the Golden Dome?

SpaceX’s proposals for the Golden Dome include a defence system made up of between 400 and 1,000 satellites orbiting the globe.

These satellites would circle the globe,sensing missiles and tracking their movement,with a separate fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers to destroy any enemy missiles.

How the Golden Dome could work (Picture: Metro Graphics)

It’s believed SpaceX is pitching for the part of the Golden Dome initiative called the ‘custody layer’,a constellation of satellites that would detect missiles,track their trajectory,and determine if they are heading toward the US or not.

If anything got past this first line of defence,ground-based interceptors would then activate and try to destroy the enemy missiles.

Third,short-range missiles would be alerted as a last-ditch effort to prevent any incoming missiles from hitting their target.

The Pentagon said it would deliver options to Trump in line with the executive order.

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

What is the significance of the Golden Dome?

If the Golden Dome goes ahead,it would mark the first time the US placed weapons in space designed to destroy ground-based missiles seconds after they launch.

SpaceX has reportedly proposed setting up its role in the Golden Dome as a subscription service,with the government paying for access to the technology rather than buying and owning the system outright.

Donald Trump says missile attacks are a major threat to the US (Picture: Shutterstock)

This could skirt some Pentagon procurement protocols allowing the system to be rolled out faster,and while this wouldn’t violate any rules,the government may then be locked into a subscription and lose control over its ongoing development and pricing,sources said.

Some Democrats have raised concerns about Musk’s company bidding on federal contracts while he serves in the White House as ‘special government employee’ in the Department of Government Efficiency.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen,a senior member of the Armed Services Committee,said: ‘When the richest man in the world can become a Special Government Employee and exert influence over the flow of billions of dollars of taxpayer money in government contracts to his companies,that’s a serious problem.’

If the SpaceX-led bid won the contract to build the Golden Dome,it would be a huge win for Silicon Valley in the extremely lucrative defence contracting industry – and a major blow for traditional contractors.

Elsewhere in the White House

Defence isn’t the only topic on Donald Trump’s mind right now: he’s also dealing with an escalating trade war with China after introducing sweeping ‘reciprocal’ trade tariffs across the globe.Fears have been raised that the president could declare martial law on US soil on April 20 – which is also Adolf Hitler’s birthday.Meanwhile,special government advisor Elon Musk has received an unpleasant promise from hackers,who have vowed to target his websites for an entire month.But that doesn’t mean these existing big players are out of the running,with Lockheed Martin setting up a webpage to try and secure work on the project,and others including Northrop Grumman,Boeing,and RTX expected to bid.More than 180 companies have expressed interest in developing and building the Golden Dome,a US official said.Whoever wins it’s likely to be a very lucrative contract,with some experts suggesting the full cost could reach hundreds of billions of dollars.There isn’t a firm timeline for delivering the Golden Dome yet,and Laura Grego,research director at the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists,questioned the feasibility of such a defense system given that multiple studies have concluded it is a ‘bad idea,expensive and vulnerable’.She said: ‘Such a system could be overwhelmed by launching multiple weapons at the same time,pushing the required size of the defense to very large numbers – potentially in the tens of thousands of satellites.’

What is the Iron Dome?

Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system intercepting rockets fired from Lebanon in 2024 (Picture: Ahmad GHARABLI/AFP)Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system selectively protects populated areas from short-range missile threats.It’s a mobile all-weather air defence system,designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from between 2-43miles away,if their trajectory would take them to a populated area.It’s comprised of a detection and tracking radar,a battle management and weapon control,and a missile firing unit.The US contributed a total of $1.6billion to the Iron Dome project before it was declared operational in 2011.