A major defense contractor has announced plans to conduct space-based tests on President Donald Trump's Golden Dome within the next three years.
Lockheed Martin, one of the Pentagon's prime military contractors responsible for the F-35 fighter jet and Black Hawk helicopters, will demonstrate a space-based interceptor missile by 2028, the company has announced.
Golden Dome, the president's plan to create a missile defense system to protect the U.S. homeland from incoming threats, like intercontinental ballistic missiles and low-flying hypersonic missiles, is one of the most ambitious defense projects currently undertaken by the Defense Department.
In essence, Trump has charged the Pentagon with crafting a plan to take down the most advanced weapons of U.S. adversaries - even threats that could emanate from space.
Lockheed is now quickly creating command and control (C2) capabilities to aid in Trump's Golden Dome initiative, the company announced this week.
'Golden Dome for America is a challenge unlike anything attempted at this scale or on this timeline, and we're moving fast to bring together connected C2 capabilities that work now,' Thad Beckert, Golden Dome C2 director at Lockheed Martin, said in a press release.
The Golden Dome is projected to cost around $175 billion in total and take three years to be ready, Trump has said, though analysts expect the project to cost more and take longer.
Whichever Pentagon contractor can successfully prove a reliable ability to shoot down incoming advanced missiles first could win billions in funding, meaning the race to shoot down missiles in space is on.
Congress has already approved $24.4 billion worth of Golden Dome funding in Trump's recently passed domestic policy agenda dubbed the 'One Big, Beautiful Bill.'
An estimate from the Arms Control Center shows that the total funding for the project could reach up to $500 billion. The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that the project could cost up to $540 billion over the next two decades.
'We have missile warning and tracking satellites made by Lockheed Martin in orbit today that provide timely detection and warning of missile threats,' said Amanda Pound, mission strategy and advanced capabilities director at Lockheed Martin Space, told Fox News Digital this week.
'We are committed to making space-based interceptors for missile defense a reality, leveraging our decades of experience, investments, and industry partnerships, to be ready for on orbit testing in 2028.'
Trump first announced the Golden Dome initiative in May, expressing his desire to create a system similar to Israel's Iron Dome, which has proved vital in its war with Hamas.
'This is very important for the success and even survival of our country. It's a pretty evil world out there,' he said.
'Once fully constructed, the Golden Dome will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they're launched from space. And we will have the best system ever built.'
Trump declared that the establishment of the Golden Dome would provide 'close to 100 percent protection' of the U.S. and is 'very important for the success and even survival of our country.'
The missile defense system, along with others, has been praised for shooting down ballistic missiles launched at the country from Iran and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
The U.S. Golden Dome project will feature a vast array of sensors, satellites, land and space-based weapons that all work together to identify and neutralize targets.
'This rapid C2 prototyping effort is one among many within Lockheed Martin demonstrating how we can support the US Government as a Golden Dome for America mission partner,' said Daniel Nimblett, Vice President of Layered Homeland Defense at Lockheed Martin.
He said the project aims to deliver 'real-time situational awareness' and 'informed decision-making to defend the nation.'
Lockheed demonstrated its ability to intercept hypersonic medium-range missiles in March after testing its Aegis Combat System aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer.
Previously, a similar effort was launched in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan called the Strategic Defense Initiative, which was later dubbed 'Star Wars.' That ambitious plan sought to similarly install space-based defense systems.
However, it was eventually scrubbed due to inadequate technology and ballooning costs.
Read more