Overview
- Anduril said it formed a consortium with Impulse Space, Inversion Space, K2 Space, Sandia National Laboratories, and Voyager Technologies to pursue space-based missile interceptors.
- The U.S. Space Force selected 12 companies for early interceptor prototypes under awards worth up to $3.2 billion, with recipients including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, SpaceX, and Anduril.
- Space-based interceptors are intended to strike missiles in the boost phase from low Earth orbit, giving defenders a chance to hit within seconds of launch before countermeasures deploy.
- Gen. Michael Guetlein set a goal to demonstrate an initial layered homeland defense by 2028 and called the orbital interceptor layer the highest-risk piece due to scalability and cost.
- Golden Dome is projected to cost about $185 billion and would expand ground-based defenses while adding orbital sensors and interceptors to track and try to stop incoming missiles.