Pentagon advances Golden Dome missile defense with new Space Force contracts
By Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Space Force has awarded about a half-dozen small Golden Dome contracts to build competing missile defense prototypes, kicking off a race for future contracts worth tens of billions of dollars, according to two sources briefed on the matter.
The awards went to several companies, including Northrop Grumman, True Anomaly, Lockheed Martin and Anduril, the sources said.
The contracts mark a significant advance in the Pentagon’s efforts to track and destroy enemy missiles, and include prototypes of space interceptors and related systems. Although Reuters could not determine the value of the contracts, a Pentagon presentation seen by Reuters in July suggested the intercept contracts would be around $120,000 each.
The contracts have not yet been publicly announced, although a Space Force spokesperson confirmed the awards declining to name the contractors. The spokesperson said contracts under $9 million did not need to be publicly disclosed.
The winners of these initial prizes will compete for the final production contracts, which could be worth tens of billions of dollars.
The contracts will fund the development of competing prototypes of phased interceptors that will shoot down a missile as it enters space, as well as fire control stations to coordinate signals from satellites and help the interceptors launch and find their targets.
The Space Force awarded contracts worth $10 million to Northrop Grumman and Anduril, based on “values released in the Pentagon’s July presentation,” the sources said.
The names of the companies that won contracts in these two award pools have not been previously released.
The government has asked contractors to develop four different versions of interceptors to deal with threats at different altitudes and speeds, which have not yet been awarded.
A third source said the four interceptor pools could be consolidated into three.
A Northrop spokesperson declined to comment. Anduril, Lockheed and True Anomaly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government has structured the various interceptor competitions with “prizes” to encourage rapid development. The largest pool of $340 million would be split among companies that successfully complete an in-orbit test, with first place receiving $125 million and fifth place receiving $40 million, according to the July presentation.
The ultimate prize is substantial: production contracts worth $1.8 billion to $3.4 billion annually, according to the July presentation. However, industry executives estimate that building and testing a single space interceptor prototype could cost between $200 million and $2 billion.
The space interceptor program represents a new approach to missile defense, placing weapons in orbit to destroy threats earlier in their flight path than current ground-based systems allow.
(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
