An illustration of the Golden Dome. Credit: Arcfield
By Sandra Erwin,
Published by Space News, 6 August 2025
President Trump’s signature missile defense program is reshaping Pentagon spending priorities and expanding the role of the Space Force, says a new report by the Aerospace Corp.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2026 defense budget request marks a turning point for U.S. space policy, with the newly unveiled Golden Dome missile defense program reshaping Pentagon spending priorities and expanding the role of the Space Force, says a new report by the Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy.
The administration is proposing about $40.2 billion in fiscal year 2026 funding for the Space Force, driven largely by the space-heavy Golden Dome initiative. The funding comes from two sources: a $26.3 billion appropriations request and an additional $13.8 billion from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a reconciliation law passed in July.
Golden Dome, likened by President Trump to the Reagan administration’s Strategic Defense Initiative, includes plans for space-based sensors and missile interceptors to protect the U.S. from peer and regional adversaries. The program accounts for $15.7 billion of the FY26 space-related reconciliation funding and has been placed under the management of Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, underscoring its space-centric approach.
“The introduction of Golden Dome is arguably the most important development affecting the defense space budget since the inception of the Space Force,” the Aerospace report states.
The administration and congressional armed services committees agreed to allocate $24.4 billion in the reconciliation act as funding for Golden Dome, with Trump stating the full project would cost about $175 billion and be initially fielded within three years.
The funding includes $9.2 billion for tracking threats from space, $5.6 billion for space-based missile interceptors, and $910 million for launch and test range infrastructure to support Golden Dome operations.
It remains unclear how much of the projected $175 billion price tag represents new spending versus existing programs. Trump “did not clarify how much of that amount would be part of already-planned spending, such as for existing missile warning and tracking programs, and how much would be allocated to new spending,” the report notes.
Strategic opportunity for Space Force
For the relatively young Space Force, established in 2019, Golden Dome represents a significant expansion of resources and responsibilities. Sam Wilson, budget analyst at the Center for Space Policy & Strategy and author of the report, views the initiative as creating “a major opportunity for the Space Force as it brings extra resources for some of Space Force’s priorities such as missile warning satellites that the service already was planning to develop.”
“This is an opportunity to get those funded at higher levels,” Wilson told SpaceNews.
The program’s prominence is also elevating space issues within broader defense planning. “The emergence of Golden Dome and the priority it’s been given by the administration suggest that anyone focused on understanding the administration’s defense plans needs to pay attention to what’s happening in space,” Wilson noted.
The administration’s emphasis on commercial participation in Golden Dome could benefit newer space firms alongside traditional prime defense contractors.
“Golden Dome looks set to dramatically affect the budget for defense space activities,” the report concludes.
Analysts have said the success of the program also could determine whether space-based missile defense becomes a cornerstone of U.S. national security strategy or remains an ambitious but unrealized goal, as occurred with aspects of the original Strategic Defense Initiative in the 1980s.
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