From the very start, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to deploy a strategic defense system in space — initially called Iron Dome, then renamed to Golden Dome due to copyright — it was clear that the project could not be realized without relying on SpaceX to some degree.
But now, Elon Musk's company is considered the front-runner in the competition to create the entire Golden Dome system in cooperation with two other new-generation defense companies, Anduril and Palantir. Six independent sources confirmed this information for Reuters.
Read more: Trump's Iron Dome is the Same Old Reagan's Star Wars Program But With Elon Musk on Board
All three — SpaceX, Anduril and Palantir — were born out of investments by the Founders Fund venture capital firm, centred around such figures as Trae Stephens, co-founder of Anduril, and Peter Thiel who owns Palantir together with Joe Lonsdale. Those two plus Elon Musk are affiliated with America PAC, the official group of sponsors of Donald Trump's election campaign.
Worth noting, Elon Musk is not the only one who works with Trump directly as part of his government. Peter Thiel was Trump's advisor during his first tenure and actively helped in the last race. Trae Stephens was called the main candidate for the position of Deputy Secretary of Defense, but in the end it was snatched by Steve Feinberg, another investor and co-owner of Cerberus Capital Management.
Portfolios of all three companies could give a hint of how they would divide the workshare. For example, Palantir is an IT company that's been cooperating with the U.S. Department of Defense and other law enforcement agencies since the late 2000s, and around the late 2010s became a key developer of solutions based on artificial intelligence and Big Data analysis. Accordingly, Palantir is expected to be responsible for the software carcass of the entire Golden Dome system.
Anduril positions itself as a scale manufacturer of cheap solutions in armaments, as transpires from both key projects in development — the Barracuda mini-cruise missile and the Copperhead-M underwater drone/mini-torpedo. Therefore, this company may take up the development of effectors, i.e. the finished satellites or their components. The giga-factories that the company is planning to build may well help with this. The first of them, Arsenal-1, has eaten $1 billion of investments and is set to open by 2026.
SpaceX's role is a no-brainer either: to launch a myriad of satellites into orbit and sustain the system. Previously, Defense Express explained that Trump's Golden Dome in essence is an implementation of the same Strategic Defense Initiative from the 1980s, or a similar program named Brilliant Pebbles. This version, however, introduces the capability to destroy missiles at launch sites, that is, an orbital strike system.
Delivering thousands of small satellites into space needs SpaceX solutions. Possibly not even the Falcon 9 but the reusable Starship with a monstrous payload of 100 tons or even 200 tons when limited to low Earth orbit. Here SpaceX's participation is unavoidable because the project would fall apart without the technology to affordably make many flights putting the satellites into orbit.
Hypothetically speaking, a consortium made of SpaceX and Lockheed Martin / Northrop Grumman / Raytheon / General Dynamics would not raise any questions. But the participation of Anduril and Palantir does. Especially about whether Anduril can pull off such a grand undertaking with only Altius kamikaze drones in its portfolio of mass-produced products so far.
In any case, if the Pentagon ends up choosing SpaceX, Anduril, and Palantir as Golden Dome contractors, the general public won't easily turn a blind eye on the fact that key personalities involved in contract execution are personally close to Trump. Given that this project will be impossible to fully implement by the end of Trump's office, he will become the target of political criticism and accusations of corruption.
The next elections may prove a turning point in the Golden Dome's future if the Trumpists lose and the new administration reconsiders further investment in the program. The entire project, which is supposed to guarantee U.S. victory in all 21st century wars, may be put at risk.
Read more: Billions in Federal Funding Are Flowing into Missile Development, Exposing Roscosmos’ Role in russia’s Military-Industrial Complex
