Overview
- Congress’s budget office on Tuesday estimated that building and operating a nationwide missile shield in line with President Trump’s order would cost about $1.2 trillion over 20 years, with more than $1 trillion for acquisition and a space interceptor constellation of roughly 7,800 satellites driving about 70% of those purchase costs.
- Because the Defense Department has not released a final blueprint, the CBO modeled a notional four‑layer system and emphasized that its figure is illustrative rather than a price for a specific plan.
- The office said the modeled network could protect against a limited strike, such as from North Korea, yet it could be overwhelmed by a large attack from Russia or China even though it is designed to cover the entire United States including Alaska and Hawaii.
- Following Thursday’s rebuttal, program lead Gen. Michael Guetlein argued the estimate relied on outdated assumptions and said it does not reflect the architecture he intends to field, adding that he still aims to deliver an operational capability in summer 2028.
- Congress has approved about $24–25 billion so far and the Pentagon is seeking roughly $17 billion more this year, while Sen. Jeff Merkley, who requested the analysis, criticized the effort as a windfall for contractors paid by taxpayers.