No Golden Dome Requirements Yet, but Space Firms Already Betting on Dual-Use Tech

Companies planning to compete for Golden Dome contracts say they’re already investing in capabilities that could have a range of defense and commercial applications—regardless of whether they’re selected for the Pentagon’s sweeping program to create an advanced homeland missile defense shield.  

The U.S. military is in planning mode for the project, which it projects will cost at least $175 billion over the next three years and potentially much more depending on how the architecture takes shape. Details as of yet are slim, but Defense Department officials have said the plan is to stitch together a system-of-systems that includes ground assets, space-based interceptors, sensors, and advanced command-and-control capabilities. 

While industry waits for more details from the government, companies large and small aren’t waiting to invest their own funds to scale existing technology they think could serve Golden Dome and plan demonstrations meant to validate new capabilities. Last week, startup Apex Space announced it will launch a space-based interceptor demonstration next summer, joining companies like Lockheed Martin and Northrop who have revealed similar plans.  

Rob Mitrevski, president of Golden Dome strategy and integration at L3Harris, said the firm has invested around $500 million to scale existing technology, including its Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor capability. 

“You’re looking for the demand signal, but it’s a bit of a trap because if you wait for the demand signal, you’re not going to be able to scale in time,” Mitrevski said during an Oct. 30 panel at the MilSat Symposium in Mountain Valley, Calif. “What we’ve done is some calculus about where the demand signal will come.” 

Across industry, much of that early investment has been in new or existing capabilities that could be repurposed to meet a variety of defense needs or that have utility for commercial customers. 

Tim Lynch, vice president of space security, mission strategies, and advanced capabilities at Lockheed, said the defense contractor is focused on offering “enterprise value” to the Defense Department. Rather than put all of its emphasis on individual systems whose importance could ebb and flow based on funding and political support, he said, the company is focused on offering an integrated suite of systems that can be adjusted as military needs and priorities change. 

“You have to have an ability to pivot,” Lynch said during the same panel. “It’s effectively being able to have that flexibility in your value proposition that gives you some safety net in your investments.” 

Voyager Technologies—a space startup whose portfolio includes sensors, electronics, propulsion systems, and AI—has also positioned itself to compete in multiple markets. Matt Magana, president of the company’s defense and national security business, said technologies like propulsion and artificial intelligence are key to Golden Dome but also are high-interest for non-defense customers. Maintaining focus on those dual-use technologies, he said, helps ensure the firm isn’t overly reliant on future wins in one area.  

Patrick Markus, vice president and general manager at Hughes Network Systems, said that while his company has traditionally focused on commercial capabilities, it’s considering how it can offer existing assets like satellites or ground systems for Golden Dome. That approach, he said, allows the firm to respond quickly to military needs. 

“I think taking a look at our existing comm assets and how [we can] use them in different and innovative ways than we have in the past to provide the comms layer, for example,” Markus said. “We need to take a hard look at that. … Do we really need a whole other comms architecture to support this particular mission?”