Space Force General Refutes Claims That ‘Golden Dome’ Program Will Cost Trillions

The United States Space Force general managing the Pentagon’s Golden Dome for America program acknowledged on March 17 that the price tag for the ambitious homeland missile defense system has increased by $10 billion to a projected $185 billion, but dismissed estimates it will ultimately cost trillions.

“They’re not estimating what I’m building,” Golden Dome Director Gen. Michael Guetlein told defense analysts and contractors at the McAleese and Associates’ annual defense programs conference in Arlington, Va.

The Golden Dome for America program was allocated $25 billion in 2025’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and another $13.4 billion in the Fiscal Year 2026 defense budget. The system is scheduled to be operational by 2032.

Analysts have questioned cost estimates since the program was approved. The Congressional Budget Office projects it could cost anywhere from $161 billion to $542 billion. American Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Todd Harrison in a September 2025 report calculated the multi-layered missile defense system would cost at least $3.6 trillion over 20 years.

Guetlein said the additional $10 billion “plus-up” to the initial $175 billion cost estimate through 2032 is to acquire three space systems developed by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman, which are among nine defense contractors working on the project.

The general said the cost projections, which in many cases extend decades beyond the scope of the program he is managing, are flawed.

“They’re estimating a very large, complex capability, fully integrated using technologies that we currently use to fight the ‘away game,’” Guetlein said. “That kit is very expensive. That kit is self-contained. That kit is very manpower intensive. It’s meant to operate independently on the battlefield for a different type of fight than what we have to do in the homeland.”

That’s not what his team and defense contractors are doing with Golden Dome, which involves “simplifying, disaggregating,” and incorporating collateral redundancies where “these critical capabilities already exist,” he said.

“When you start disaggregating all that kit and putting it together into a different form factor,” Guetlein said, “you start to drive that price down … bring down that cost equation down, and not exceed that $185 billion that the president allocated.”

The program is among President Donald Trump’s key homeland defense initiatives. He called for the Department of Defense to develop “a next-generation missile shield” for the nation in a Jan. 27, 2025 executive order.

Guetlein said while developing an advanced missile shield for the continental United States is expensive, the price that could be paid for not doing so may be incalculable.

“First and foremost, the reason we have Golden Dome is because the nation is relatively undefended,” he said. “We have got to rapidly change that equation. World events are showing just how dangerous the environment has gotten. We have numerous amount of threats out there, so we’ve got to start fielding capability to make sure we can defend the American public.”

Reuters contributed to this report.