Trump s Golden Dome plan could launch new era of weapons in space

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trumps Golden Dome missile defense concept revives a controversial, decades-old initiative whose ambitious construction could upend norms in outer space and reshape relations between the worlds top space powers.

The announcement of Golden Dome, a vast network of satellites and weapons in Earths orbit set to cost $175 billion, could sharply escalate the militarization of space, a trend that has intensified over the last decade, space analysts say.

While the worlds biggest space powers - the U.S., Russia and China - have put military and intelligence assets in orbit since the 1960s, they have done so mostly in secrecy.

Under former President Joe Biden, U.S. Space Force officials had grown vocal about a need for greater offensive space capabilities due to space-based threats from Russia and China.

When Trump announced his Golden Dome plan in January, it was a clear shift in strategy, one that emphasizes a bold move into space with expensive, untested technology that could be a financial boon to U.S. defense contractors.

The concept includes space-based missiles that would launch from satellites in orbit to intercept conventional and nuclear missiles launched from Earth.

I think its opening a Pandoras box, said Victoria Samson, director of space security and stability at the Secure World Foundation think tank in Washington, referring to deploying missiles in space. We havent truly thought about the long-term consequences for doing so, she added.

Samson and other experts said Golden Dome could provoke other states to place similar systems in space or to develop more advanced weapons to evade the missile shield, escalating an arms race in space.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Russia and China reacted differently to the latest news from Trump. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said it was seriously