SpaceX Lands $4.16 Billion Deal to Build Golden Dome Tracking Satellites

*SpaceX will supply the sensor satellites that form the space-based layer of the Pentagon’s planned missile defense network.*

The Pentagon awarded SpaceX a $4.16 billion contract to construct satellites equipped to detect and track missiles and aircraft from orbit. The award, announced Friday by the US Space Force, covers the core sensor payload for the Golden Dome system first described by President Donald Trump.

The satellites will feed data into a broader shield intended to identify incoming threats and support interception. SpaceX already holds earlier Space Force agreements to develop additional Golden Dome components. The new work expands that role.

Bloomberg reported the contract value as more than $4 billion; The Verge cited the precise figure of $4.16 billion. Both accounts describe the same program and the same contractor.

The timing coincides with SpaceX’s recent filing for what could become the largest initial public offering on record. Revenue from the new contract will sit alongside existing government work.

The system is modeled on Israel’s Iron Dome but scaled for continental coverage. No performance timelines or satellite counts were released in the announcements.

For SpaceX the award adds another large, multi-year revenue line tied directly to national defense priorities. For the Space Force it moves the Golden Dome architecture from concept studies into hardware production under a single prime contractor.

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Sources:

• The Verge
• Bloomberg Technology

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