Overview

• An American Enterprise Institute study estimates a 20-year price tag between roughly $252 billion and $3.6 trillion, far above the $175 billion cited by the White House.
• President Trump has said the system would be operational by the end of his term, and roughly $25 billion is budgeted for the current year.
• The executive order allows for space-based interceptors, with outside assessments suggesting thousands to tens of thousands of satellites could be required for meaningful coverage.
• Analysts note decades of U.S. missile-defense spending with limited practical results and warn the envisioned scope and schedule rely on unproven technologies.
• Commentary flags risks to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and warns that weaponizing orbit could spur adversaries to counter with their own space-based capabilities.