How Golden Dome’s space-based missile interceptors would work

Golden Dome, the ambitious U.S. missile-defense project, envisions thousands of space-based interceptor satellites to shield the country from airborne attacks. These interceptors would work by sensing a missile's launch, alerting one another, and then firing a space-based interceptor—essentially a large bullet—to strike the threat early in its flight.

However, no operational system currently exists, and no solid plan has been released for the architecture of Golden Dome. Despite this, American defense companies are already preparing to build orbiting interceptors, hoping to capitalize on the speculative and potentially expensive aspect of the defense project. Voyager Technologies, for example, has already invested in defense and national security technology that could prove useful for Golden Dome, including radiation-hardened electronics, electric propulsion systems, and solid-fuel rocket systems.

The scale of such a system is unprecedented, with estimates suggesting around 1,900 interceptors are needed for continuous coverage, or 7,800 to stand up to a minor adversary or small attack from a more significant one. The sequence of events must also happen quickly, as interceptors must strike the missile while it's still in its boost phase, within minutes of its launch.

While space-based missile defense has stayed mostly aspirational since President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative in 1983, putting interceptors in orbit could lead to more opportunities for orbital attacks and accidental collisions, potentially escalating tensions in space.