According to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” initiative could cost as much as $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy, and operate over 20 years, far exceeding the White House’s current $185 billion estimate.
The Golden Dome program, launched under an executive order in January 2025, is intended to defend the United States from advanced missile threats, including hypersonic weapons. Initially projected to cost $175 billion, the program’s price tag has since risen to $185 billion, with completion now expected by 2035, seven years later than originally planned.
The updated estimate is based on what the CBO described as a “notional” missile defense architecture broadly aligned with the systems and capabilities outlined in Trump’s 2025 executive order directing the development of Golden Dome.
However, the office cautioned that the estimate remains uncertain because the Defense Department (DOD) has released limited public details about the program’s final architecture.
Under the Trump administration, the DOD was rebranded as the War Department.
While the report provides Congress with a detailed independent assessment of what a missile defense architecture based on the systems and capabilities outlined in the executive order could look like, the office said it is “impossible to estimate the long-term cost of the [Golden Dome] system being contemplated by DOD” since the department has provided limited details about the project’s architecture.
According to the CBO, acquisition costs for the system would total just more than $1 trillion. Those costs include interceptor layers, a space-based missile warning and tracking system, ongoing research and development, and improvements to system integration and performance. Annual operating costs would include personnel compensation, maintenance, repairs, and periodic equipment upgrades.
The report also identified that the proposed space-based interceptor layer is the program’s most expensive component, accounting for about 70% of acquisition costs and roughly 60% of the total projected cost. The CBO noted that the interceptors, which do not currently exist, would likely consume the majority of the program’s funding.
Last month, the U.S. Space Force acquisition arm tapped 12 companies to help develop space-based interceptor prototypes for the Golden Dome initiative. The service awarded the companies 20 Other Transaction Authority agreements with a combined potential value of up to $3.2 billion, according to Space Systems Command.
The agreements were issued in late 2025 and early 2026.
Despite those awards, it remains unclear whether space-based interceptors will ultimately become part of the program’s final architecture.
Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Space Force officer leading the Golden Dome program, recently told lawmakers that the technology may not be included if it cannot be developed affordably at scale.
“What we do not know today is ‘Can I do it at scale, and can I do it affordably?’ That’s going to be the huge challenge for boost-phase intercept,” Guetlein said. “If we cannot do it affordably, we will not go into production.”
Guetlein has suggested that alternative technologies, including kinetic midcourse interceptors, could be viable options if space-based systems prove too costly or technologically impractical.
He has also disputed similar estimates from outside organizations on multiple occasions, arguing the projections are based on a larger and more complex system than what the Golden Dome program is expected to field.