Overview

• The administration has chosen a multi-layered missile shield architecture featuring space-based sensors and interceptors with an initial $175 billion price tag and a 2029 operational goal.
• A Congressional Budget Office report cautions the true cost could reach $831 billion over twenty years, raising questions about long-term funding.
• Canada’s government declined Trump’s proposal to waive a $61 billion participation fee in exchange for annexation but remains in talks on joining as an independent partner.
• Contracts awarded to SpaceX, Palantir and Anduril position Elon Musk’s firms at the core of the build-out, prompting ethics concerns over potential conflicts of interest.
• China and North Korea condemned the shield for militarizing space as experts and lawmakers warn the system may struggle to counter hypersonic missile threats.