Trump, Hegseth to announce ‘golden dome’ missile defense plan, US official says

President Donald Trump will make an announcement on the Golden Dome missile defense system at 3 p.m. ET this afternoon alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Space Force Vice Chief of Operations, General Michael Guetlein, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News. 

The Pentagon’s recommendations for the multibillion-dollar project will be announced, including the drafted architecture and implementation plan for the complex satellite system, the official added. 

A total of $25 billion has been carved out of next year’s defense budget for this system, but the Congressional Budget office estimates it could cost as much as $500 billion over the next 20 years.   

Officials told Reuters that Guetlein will likely be named as the lead program manager for the Golden Dome project. 

SPACEX AND ITS PARTNERS EMERGE AS FRONTRUNNERS TO BUILD PART OF TRUMP’S GOLDEN DOME PROJECT 

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. (Getty Images)

Last month, Reuters reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and two of its partners have emerged as frontrunners to build part of the missile defense system. 

SpaceX is teaming up with software maker Palantir and defense technology company Anduril for a joint bid, with all three of the companies having met with top officials in the Trump administration and the Pentagon to pitch their proposal, sources told Reuters at the time. 

Their plan is to build and launch 400 to up to more than 1,000 satellites to track the movement of missiles around the globe, the sources said. A fleet of 200 attack satellites armed with missiles or lasers would then eliminate enemy projectiles, but the SpaceX group is not anticipated to play a role in the weaponization of those satellites, the sources added.   

‘GOLDEN DOME’ WILL NEED MANHATTAN PROJECT-SCALE WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT EFFORT, SPACE FORCE GENERAL SAYS 

Trump has ordered the construction of an advanced, next-generation missile defense shield to protect the U.S. from an aerial attack.  

In January, he signed an executive order that tasks Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with drawing up plans to build an “Iron Dome for America” that will protect Americans from the threat of missiles launched by a foreign enemy. 

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The Pentagon has received interest from more than 180 companies to help build the project, a U.S. official told Reuters.   

Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.