As US President Donald Trump pursues his ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense project, tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX is believed to be bidding along with two partners, as per recent media reports. So, after excelling in automobiles and space, is Musk looking to venture into the realm of defense?
Shortly after taking office, Donald Trump issued an executive order on January 27 for the development of “Golden Dome” and directed the Pentagon to submit architectural plans for the program in about 60 days.
He made the case for a missile defense shield, citing a potential missile attack as “the most catastrophic threat facing the United States”.
Trump’s executive order said that he wanted a plan that would protect the US homeland from “ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries.” Although no specific adversaries were mentioned, it was assumed that he was referring to China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
The Golden Dome has been envisioned as a space-based missile defense initiative. With the Golden Dome, the US seeks to neutralize threats during the boost phase, when a hostile missile is just being launched, for which it would need an advanced network of satellites, space-based radar systems, orbital interceptors, and perhaps directed energy weapons.
The Space Force would be responsible for deploying, coordinating, and controlling this vast defense grid. The executive order explicitly endorsed two satellite programs: the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) and the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). This is where Elon Musk’s SpaceX comes in.
Citing unidentified sources, a recent Reuters report stated that Musk’s rocket and satellite company is collaborating with Palantir, a software company, and Anduril, a drone manufacturer, in an attempt to build key components of the Golden Dome. This consortium has emerged as a frontrunner to build Trump’s Golden Dome.
The founders of each of the three businesses have been prominent supporters of Trump. Musk, who has contributed over a quarter of a billion dollars to Trump’s election campaign, is currently the president’s special adviser and works to reduce government spending through his so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.”
The project entails placing hundreds, if not thousands, of satellites in low Earth orbit. According to sources cited by the report, the three companies intend to build 400–1,000 satellites orbiting the planet to identify and track missile activities.
Besides satellites tasked with detecting and tracking hostile missiles, some satellites would be armed to intercept or destroy them.
However, the report stated that Elon Musk’s SpaceX would not be entrusted with the responsibility of developing offensive space capabilities. Instead, SpaceX is purportedly interested in the “custody layer” of the system, which focuses on missile tracking and detection, according to sources quoted by Reuters.
The report states that the idea involves a subscription-based model in which the government would pay for access to the satellite services instead of fully owning the system.
Sources said that while the Pentagon has taken an optimistic approach towards the SpaceX-led consortium, the selection process is still in its early stages. Significant changes are likely to be made to the design and structure of the Golden Dome, as well as to the companies involved in its construction.
However, Elon Musk has refuted claims that SpaceX was bidding for a role in the Golden Dome project.
“SpaceX has not tried to bid for any contract in this regard,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X. “Our strong preference would be to stay focused on taking humanity to Mars. If the President asks us to help in this regard, we will do so, but I hope that other companies (not SpaceX) can do this.”
While the EurAsian Times could not independently confirm the claims made by Reuters, the prospect of venturing into the defense manufacturing market may be very enticing for the American billionaire, who has already succeeded in the automobile market with Tesla and the space market with SpaceX.
The Defense Market Is Booming
With geopolitical turmoil on the rise and animosities escalating into hostilities, there is a significant expansion underway in defense manufacturing.
The return of conventional war to Europe with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked the return of insecurity to the European continent.
The NATO states that had blissfully remained oblivious to the need to ramp up their defensive and offensive capabilities were galvanised to spend more on defense, acquire state-of-the-art equipment, and stimulate local manufacturing.
For the first time since 2009, military expenditures increased in all five geographical regions—the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Oceania — in 2023.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) 2024 report, global arms spending registered a steep increase over the past decade, reaching a record high of US$2,443 billion in 2023.
The Ukraine war was one of the leading causes of military spending reaching a 35-year high, and so were tensions in Asia and the Middle East.
According to a recent analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think tank, the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a 7.4% increase in global military spending to $2.46 trillion in 2024. Countries in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe saw significant budget increases, with most of them vowing to raise defense spending as a percentage of their gross domestic product (GDP).
“Growth accelerated, with the 7.4% real-terms uplift outpacing increases of 6.5% in 2023 and 3.5% in 2022. As a result, in 2024, global defence spending increased to an average of 1.9% of GDP, up from 1.6% in 2022 and 1.8% in 2023,” writes the IISS report.
European defense spending increased by 11.7% in real terms over the past year to USD 457 billion, marking the ninth consecutive year of growth in 2024.
Several European countries experienced significant increases in their defense budgets. For example, Poland moved up from 20th place in 2022 to 15th place in 2024 as the world’s 15th highest defense spender.
In Asia, the Chinese high-handedness and North Korea’s threats have also led to an increase in defense spending, as countries in the region feel the need to bolster their combat capability to take on the superior and technologically advanced People’s Liberation Army.
Countries such as India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines have all increased their defense spending.
In 2025, global defense spending is expected to rise further, as security threats become more pronounced, and with Donald Trump urging his allies to increase their defense spending. In January, Trump said that the minimum level of expenditure for NATO members should increase to 5% of GDP.
Moreover, since Donald Trump told his NATO allies that he would not come to their defense in the event of a conflict, the European countries have planned a massive rearmament separately from the United States. As announced by European Union President von der Leyen, the ReArm Europe Plan/Readiness 2030 authorises spending of over €800 billion.
The 2025 defense budget of the United States calls for overall spending of US$832.3 billion. In contrast, China’s planned defense expenditure this year is estimated to be about 1.784665 trillion yuan (US$246 billion). This represents an increase of approximately 7.2%, similar to the growth rates observed in 2023 and 2024.
Japan passed a defense budget of 8.7 trillion yen (US$55.1 billion) in January 2025, a growth of about 9.4%. In March 2025, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated that the country should allocate at least 3% of its GDP to defense amid growing regional threats.
Australia, on the other hand, has pledged AUD 1 billion (US$640 million) in defense spending as announced by Defense Minister Richard Marles in March. As part of a previously announced AUD50 billion boost over ten years, Marles said the federal budget would include an increase of AUD10.6 billion (US$6.66 billion) for defense over the next four years. He claimed that this was the largest increase in defense spending since the end of World War II.
India, on its part, has allocated a defense budget of US$78.57 billion, marking a 9.5% increase.
The rise in defense spending over the last few years has also fueled imports, as countries seek to modernize their militaries with cutting-edge military equipment.
As per the 2025 SIPRI report, “Arms imports by the European NATO members more than doubled between 2015–19 and 2020–24 (+105 per cent). The US supplied 64 percent of these arms, a substantially larger share than in 2015–2019 (52 percent). The other main suppliers were France and South Korea (accounting for 6.5 per cent each), Germany (4.7 per cent), and Israel (3.9 per cent).”
The global defense contractors are the main beneficiaries of this increase. For instance, the overall revenue of the Top 100 defense companies for military services and weaponry sales in 2023 was $632 billion, a 4.2% increase from 2022.
Of the countries in the Top 100, the United States had the most arms companies (41), with a combined revenue of $317 billion. Europe had 27 companies in the Top 100, and Asia and Oceania had 23.
At a time like this, entering into the defense manufacturing market could prove to be a blessing for Elon Musk, especially as the odds are stacked in his favour under Donald Trump’s Presidency.
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