- Trump administration Once turned to old friends who seem to develop a “Golden Dome” missile defense system proposed by President Donald Trump. Although the plans can change, and Elon Musk denied that SpaceX appeared for work, the administration would consider that Antil, Palantir and the Elon Musk space technology company to build key parts of the system. The co -founders of the three companies previously supported Trump, notably Musk, who donated $ 288 million to Trump’s re -election campaign in 2024 and is an adviser to the president.
President Donald Trump wants to build a “Golden dome” To protect the United States from missile attacks, and its administration would have looked for familiar faces to help build it.
The so-called “golden dome” would be a missile defense system similar to the Iron Dome of Israel, and would intercept the projectiles launched in the United States using satellites. According to President Trump, who gave more details on the project on Tuesday, the ambitious effort is intended to rely on the SDI proposed by Ronald Reagan, but never finished “Star Wars” systemImagined as a defense against threats of missiles in the USSR.
The dome will be completed in three years, at the end of Trump’s mandate, and will cost around $ 175 billion, he said. However, a recent study By the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the project could cost $ 161 billion at the bottom and $ 542 billion up to two decades.
“Once fully built, the Golden Dome will be able to intercept the missiles even if they have been launched from other sides of the world, and even if they have been launched from space”, Trump said At a press conference on Tuesday.
In two articles on X from April, Elon Musk denied that SpaceX was involved in Trump’s Golden Dome project. In response to a position promoting the news reported by ReutersMusk said “It is not true.”
In a previous article, Musk said he preferred other companies to take the Golden Dome project.
“SpaceX did not try to bid for a contract in this regard. Our strong preference would be to remain focused on taking humanity on Mars. If the president asks us to help in this regard, we will do so, but I hope that other companies (not SpaceX) can do it”, he wrote.
Palant, Andundil and SpaceX did not immediately respond to FortuneComment request.
Although Plans for the Missile-Defense System Are in Early Stages and May Change, the White House is postponedly considering in Partnership Between Spacex, Andundil, and Palant, Three Companies Whose Cofounders have Previously supported trump, as frontrunners to build Key parts of the system Familiar with the Matter Told Reuters.
The three companies have met with officials of the Trump administration in recent weeks to present their proposal, which includes the launch of 400 to more than 1,000 satellites in space to follow the missiles. 200 additional attack satellites equipped with their own missiles or lasers are responsible for the abandonment of enemy projectiles, Reuters reported. SpaceX would not be directly involved in the armaments of satellites, said sources at the exit.
SpaceX would have presented the idea that the US government pays a government subscription service to access technology, rather than owning it, so that it is developed more quickly, Reuters reported. Pentagon officials would have expressed their concern about the idea of not having the anti -missile defense system, which would be unusual for such a large defense system.
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, is an advisor close to President Trump and donated more than a quarter of a billion dollars to his re -election campaign. As a face of the Trump Government Department (DOGE), Musk has spent the last months reducing public spending, with around $ 170 billion in savings so far, according to the DOGE website. (Its initial objective was to cut 2 billions of dollars.)
At the same time, the Musk Spacex company has made billions of dollars in revenue from government contracts. The space company obtained more than 300 contracts worth $ 3.8 billion last year, the New York Times reported.
The role of Musk in the government would have had an influence on the pitching process of the golden dome, according to one of the sources familiar with talks.
“There is an attitude that the National Security and Defense Community must be sensitive and deferential to Elon Musk because of its role in the government,” said the source Reuters.
Palant, Big Data software company, was co -founded by Peter Thiel, who was a major supporter of Trump during his first race for the presidency in 2016, giving more than $ 1 million in Pro-Trump groups and serve in the president’s transition team. While Thiel fell from his political involvement and his gifts in 2020 and 2024, Trump chose his protégé JD Vance as a running mate. The CEO of Palantir, Alex Karp, describes his policy as a populist-left, but previously supported the Republicans and Democrats in the Congress elections, according to Opensecrets. He $ 360,000 donation For former President Joe Biden during his presidential campaign in 2024. Karp then supported former vice-president Kamala Harris to the presidency.
Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus (Que Facebook bought for $ 2 billion In 2014), is also co -founder of Andundil, the country’s largest private defense startup. Luckey has supported Trump since his first race for the presidency in 2016. At the time, Luckey made a donation of $ 10,000 to a pro-Trump political group, which, according to him, led him to be dismissed by Facebook in 2017 and to be ostracized by his liberal colleagues from Silicon Valley.
In 2020 and 2024, Luckey welcomed and co-organized fundraising to support the Trump campaign for the president, and personally donated $ 400,000 to his latest re-election campaign, Fortune previously reported. The 32 -year -old Andundil co -founder was a major supporter of Trump’s defense strategy, and his business has more than a billion dollars in military contracts, Fortune also reported previously.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
