US budget watchdog estimates Golden Dome will cost $1.2 trillion, dwarfing Pentagon’s $185 billion estimate

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s ​Golden Dome missile defense shield could cost approximately $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy and operate ⁠over 20 years, a figure that dwarfs a $185 ‌billion price tag offered ​by the program’s Pentagon director.

Golden Dome envisions expanding ground‑based defenses such as interceptor missiles, sensors and command‑and‑control systems while ⁠adding space‑based elements meant ‌to detect, track ‌and potentially shoot down incoming threats from orbit. These would ⁠include advanced satellite networks and orbiting weapons.

The CBO estimated acquisition costs ‌alone for the system ‌would total just over $1 trillion, with the space-based interceptor layer — a constellation ⁠of 7,800 satellites — accounting for ​about 70 ⁠percent ​of acquisition costs.

The system would cover the entire United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, and would have ⁠the capacity to fully engage an attack from a regional adversary such as ⁠North Korea. However, the CBO warned the system could be overwhelmed by a full-scale attack from Russia ⁠or China.

The executive ‌order establishing Golden Dome, signed ​on ‌January 27, 2025, set an aggressive ​timetable to field a comprehensive homeland missile-defense system by 2028.