Issue Brief on “America’s Golden Dome: Strategic Defence Vs Space Weaponization”

In January 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled plans to build a Golden Dome at an estimated cost of US$175 billion - a missile defence shield designed to protect the U.S. against a myriad of threats like hypersonic, ballistic, and space-based weapons.[1] It is a throwback to President Ronald Reagan's Star Wars initiative or the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) of 1983, which envisioned deploying a constellation of space-based interceptors "rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete."[2] Star Wars fizzled out because of the technical feasibility of welding a defence shield and the exorbitant costs of the project. President Trump's Golden Dome is an ambitious initiative that envisages multilayered, extensive protection for the continental U.S. by 2029. However, it has faced criticism over the viability, timeline, and practicality of the project as well as the political and strategic ramifications. Critics have argued that far from enhancing the U.S. national security, the initiative risks exacerbating global instability, accelerating strategic competition, and hastening space weaponization.

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