Elon Musk has emerged as a frontrunner in President Donald Trump’s plans to build a ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense shield.
Musk’s SpaceX company is partnering with software maker Palantir and drone builder Anduril to build key parts of Golden Dome, six sources told Reuters.
All three of the companies were founded by entrepreneurs who have been supporters of Trump, with Musk also serving as a special adviser to the president as the chief of DOGE.
The Pentagon has reacted positively to SpaceX being involved in the project, which would build and launch hundreds of satellites around the globe to sense missiles and track their movements.
Another fleet of around 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers would then bring enemy missiles down, according to sources.
The Pentagon has reacted positively to SpaceX being involved in the project, which would build and launch hundreds of satellites around the globe to sense missiles and track them
The decision process is still in its early days however, and who is selected to work on certain elements could change.
The three companies met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon recently to pitch their ideas.
One of the sources familiar with the talks described them as ‘a departure from the usual acquisition process’.
‘There’s an attitude that the national security and defense community has to be sensitive and deferential to Elon Musk because of his role in the government’, they said.
SpaceX has proposed that they set up Golden Dome as a ‘subscription service’, in which the government would pay for access to the tech, rather than own the whole system.
The subscription model, which has not been previously reported, could skirt some Pentagon procurement protocols allowing the system to be rolled out faster, the two sources said.
While the approach would not violate any rules, the government may then be locked into a subscription and lose control over its ongoing development and pricing, they added.
This is a breaking news story.
