One year on from the executive order that launched the Golden Dome missile-defense effort, the program has shown limited outward progress, with key choices about its space-based architecture yet to be finalized and most appropriated funds not yet expended.
The executive order that established Golden Dome was signed on January 27, 2025, directing an accelerated path to deploy a comprehensive homeland missile-defense system by 2028. Despite that aggressive timetable, officials say the program has not yet begun broad execution of the roughly $25 billion that Congress approved last summer. Senior U.S. officials and industry representatives say the delay is tied to ongoing internal deliberations about foundational elements of the system, particularly the contested role of space-based components.
Two U.S. officials told reporters that work to finalize the missile shield rchitecture remains in progress and that the majority of the allocated funds have not been obligated. The officials added that the money remains available and that substantial releases could occur in the near term once key architecture decisions are completed.
A Pentagon spokesperson responded to questions by saying the Golden Dome office is meeting the goals set out in the executive order, and that while the implementation plan and enabling technologies are evolving, the "foundational elements of the architecture are now established." The spokesperson also noted that the specifics of the architecture are classified.
Space-based elements at the center of debate
Golden Dome envisions reinforcing existing ground-based defenses - including interceptor missiles, sensors and command-and-control systems - while augmenting those capabilities with more experimental space-based components designed to detect, track and potentially counter threats approaching from or transiting through space. Those additions are described as advanced satellite networks and on-orbit systems whose precise nature is still contested within defense circles.
Officials and industry executives say one notable source of the program's slow start is debate over classified space-based equipment. One defense industry executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, suggested the systems under discussion likely involve communications standards. Another executive said the technology could include anti-satellite capabilities, a classification that raises questions about how such tools would fit into a defensive missile shield given longstanding U.S. concerns about anti-satellite weapons and their potential to create space debris.
Because decisions about the space-based architecture remain unsettled, program director General Michael Guetlein has not moved forward with what officials expect will be a series of procurement contracts for existing weapons and systems. Sources inside the Department of Defense and industry say those procurement actions depend on a cleared, classified architecture.
Early contracts and small-scale steps
To date, the Space Force has issued roughly half a dozen small-value Golden Dome contracts intended to develop competing prototypes. Those awards, made in November, went to firms including Northrop Grumman, True Anomaly, Lockheed Martin and Anduril, and were valued at about $120,000 apiece, according to sources familiar with the awards. These small contracts represent the first concrete steps in a program the president has said will ultimately cost $175 billion.
Officials also said there has been at least one classified briefing for defense companies since December to outline the program's evolving architecture. Industry and Pentagon sources report that much of the past year has been occupied by security reviews, staffing choices and the approval of complex implementation plans that must align with classified decisions.
Tom Karako, a weapons security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the Golden Dome program has been largely consumed by those internal processes and that it is unlikely the project will be fully complete by 2028. He noted that significant integration of existing systems can still occur within the next three years, while acknowledging that other elements will continue to be implemented and refined after 2028.
Greenland and scope questions
An additional unresolved element concerns the potential role of Greenland in the Golden Dome architecture. The president has publicly tied U.S. control of Greenland to the missile-defense initiative, calling acquisition of the Danish territory "vital" to the project. Defense analysts point out that current agreements already permit expanded U.S. military operations on the island, and at least one U.S. official told reporters that Greenland is not included in Golden Dome's proposed architecture.
With architecture choices still pending and space-based capabilities at the heart of internal debate, officials say substantial fund execution and a broad procurement push remain contingent on classified decisions that have yet to be announced. For now, the program continues to take incremental steps while awaiting resolution of core technical and policy questions.