Washington:
Elon Musk’s SpaceX and two partners have emerged at the forefront of winning an important part of President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense shield, saying six people familiar with the case.
Musk’s rocket and satellite company Golden Dome is partnered with software manufacturer Palantir and drone builder Enduril to build major parts of Golden Dome, sources said, which has created significant interest from the base of the defense startup of the technology sector.
In his 27 January executive order, Trump cited a missile attack, “The most frightening threat to the United States.”
All three companies were established by entrepreneurs who have been the leading political supporters of Trump. Musk has donated over a billion dollars to help Trump choose, and now serves as a special advisor for the President who is working to cut government spending through its government proficiency department.
Despite the positive signs of the pentagon for the SpaceX group, some sources emphasized the decision process for Trump’s Golden Dome, in its early stages. Its final structure and which is chosen to work on it, may dramatically change in the coming months.
The three companies met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon in recent weeks to pitch their plan, which would build and launch more than 400 satellites over 400, which revolve around the globe to understand the missiles and track their movement.
A separate fleet of 200 attack satellites equipped with missiles or lasers would then bring down the enemy missiles, three sources said. The SpaceX group is not expected to be involved in the weapons of satellites, the sources said.
One of the sources familiar with the talks has “described him as a departure from the general acquisition process. There is an attitude that the national security and defense community has to sensitive and discuss the Elon Musk because of his role in the government.”
SpaceX and Musk have refused to comment on whether Musk is involved in any discussion or dialogue related to federal contracts with his businesses.
The Pentagon did not answer detailed questions from the Reuters, just stating that it would “suit the executive order and the President will provide an option to the President for his decision in alignment with the guidance and deadline of the White House.”
The White House, SpaceX, Palauntir and Enduril also did not answer the questions.
Membership service
In an unusual turn, SpaceX has proposed to install its role in Golden Dome as a “membership service” in which the government will pay for access to technology rather than a lump sum system.
The membership model, which has not been reported earlier, can skirt some Pentagon procurement protocols, allowing the system to roll out rapidly, two sources said. While the approach will not violate any rules, the government can then be closed in membership and lose control over its ongoing development and pricing, he said.
Some Pentagon officials have expressed internal concerns about relying on the membership-based model for any part of the Golden Dome, two sources told the Reuters. Such a system will be unusual for such a large and important defense program.
Two sources said the US Space Force General Michael Guitlin is talking about whether SpaceX should own its share of the system and operator. Other options include the US having its own and operating the system, or being near the US, while the contractors handle operations. Guitlin did not respond to the remarks request.
Two sources said the retired Air Force General Terence O’Shugnes, who is Musk’s top SpaceX advisor, has been involved in the company’s recent discussions with senior defense and intelligence leaders. O’Shauckhnessy did not respond to the remarks requests.
Whether the group led by SpaceX should win a golden dome contract, it will be the biggest win for Silicon Valley in the attractive defense contract industry and a shock for traditional contractors.
However, those long -lasting contractors, such as the Northrop Gramman, Boeing and RTX are expected to be a big player in the process, as well as companies said the companies said. Lockheed Martin created a webpage as a part of his marketing efforts.
Many dialects
The Pentagon has been interested in more than 180 companies, which, according to the American official, are eager to help and help to develop Golden Domes, including defense startups such as Epires, Ursa Major and Armada. The members of the National Security Council of the White House were informed by a handful of companies about their capabilities, four sources.
Pentagon’s number two, former private equity investor Steve Finburgh, would be a leading decision manufacturer for Golden Dome, two US defense officials said.
Feinberg co-established the Serberus Capital Management, which has invested in the state-of-the-art hypersonic missile industry, but not in SpaceX. Fenberg, who did not respond to the request for comment, has said that he would divide all his interests in Serberus when he joined the administration.
Some experts believe that the overall cost for Golden Dome can reach hundreds of billions of dollars. The Pentagon established several deadlines for the capabilities to start in 2026 after 2030.
The SpaceX is pitching for the Golden Dome initiative part of the “Custdian layer”, a constellation of satellites that will detect missiles, track their trajectory, and determine whether they are moving towards America, according to two sources familiar to SpaceX goals.
Spacex has speculated that the initial engineering and design work for the custody layer of satellites would cost between $ 6 billion and $ 10 billion, two sources said. Sources said that in the last five years, SpaceX has launched hundreds of operating detective satellites and recently several prototypes, which can be retrofitted to use for the project.
Reuters reviewed an internal Pentagon Memo from Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth, which was issued on February 28 before the time limit of 28 February for the Senior Pentagon leadership, asking him for the initial Golden Dome proposals and calling him for “the acceleration of the deployment” of the constellations of satellites.
The deadline can give Spacex an advantage due to the fleet of its rockets, with Falcon 9, and existing satellites can be renovated for missile defense shields, which were said by people familiar with the plan.
Despite these advantages, some of the people familiar with the discussions said that it was uncertain whether the SpaceX would be able to install a system in a cost -effective manner with new technology that could protect the United States from attacks.
One of the sources said, “It remains to be seen whether SpaceX and these tech companies will be able to pull any of it.” “They never had to distribute on an entire system, which the nation would need to rely to defense.”
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