With its high speed and maneuverability, the Space Force’s secretive X-37B spacecraft could be a critical component in a future space-based missile defense for the United States.
Two seemingly unrelated events have taken place since Donald Trump assumed the presidency for the second, non-consecutive time.
The first was the return of one of the United States Space Force’s two X-37B Orbital Test Vehicles (OTVs) after an amazing 434-day classified space mission—though, mind you, the longest time an X-37B has remained in orbit has been for an historic 908 days.
The second event was President Trump’s announcement of his intention to build the “Golden Dome” national missile defense system.
Trump’s “Golden Dome,” Explained
The proposed “Golden Dome” is a reframing of an already ongoing, though turgid, attempt at a national missile defense shield. Under Trump’s leadership, the forty-seventh president aims to make the quest for a national missile defense shield not only a priority, but a reality.
Beginning with an executive order signed on January 27, 2025, Trump directed his Department of Defense to develop a “next-generation missile defense shield” that would defend the United States homeland from a range of threats, such as ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, advanced cruise missiles, and other aerial attacks from adversaries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.
The multiple mission set here is key. Unlike Israel’s Iron Dome, which merely focuses on short-range rockets over a small area, the Golden Dome aims to cover the entire North American continent. Earlier this month, Trump called his Golden Dome a “state-of-the-art” system, and said that it would “be all made in the USA.” Trump’s political alliance with Elon Musk, whose SpaceX rocket company makes all of its components in the United States, ensures that this could be a reality.
Trump rightly framed his Golden Dome as the natural fulfillment of President Ronald Reagan’s much-derided Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), more commonly known as “Star Wars.” The president’s plan, like Reagan’s, emphasizes space-based components, including sensors to track missiles and interceptors to destroy them, possibly in the boost phase of those incoming missiles—long before they could ever reach the United States. Further, Golden Dome plans call to incorporate existing systems, like the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (in Alaska and California), the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and Patriot Missile defenses into a layered, multi-domain architecture.
The X-37B Could Be an ICBM Killer
Here’s where things get interesting.
The Trump administration wants to use both still-developing technologies as well as existing systems and merge them into this complex, layered missile defense shield. The Space Force’s X-37B has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to conduct rapid and surgical maneuvers in orbit. The innovative space drone has proven it can remain in orbit for more than a year without needing refueling of any kind.
There have already been numerous experiments involving lasers of various strengths. The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) which is heavily involved with the ongoing mission to create an effective missile defense shield for the United States reported in 2023 that they, working alongside Lockheed Martin, “will scale [their] laser technology to a new benchmark: a 500 kW-class laser, the most powerful laser Lockheed Martin has produced” under a contract with the DoD known as the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI).
This new 500-kW laser will be available, according to Brian Wang of Next Big Future, by 2026.
Lockheed’s concept for HELSI is for the 500-kilowatt laser to be compact. The MDA has already been talking about placing these systems not only on mobile, ground-based platforms such as armored vehicles employed by the United States Army, but also on U.S. Navy warships and the F-35 Lightning II. Just imagine deploying one of these relatively compact 500-kW lasers built by Lockheed in the truck bed of the X-37B!
Of course, for the “Golden Dome” to be truly comprehensive, the country would need more than the two X-37Bs it currently has at its disposal. But, as a proof-of-concept in keeping with Trump’s mandate to utilize all available resources, it is very possible that testing such a system on the X-37B is the inevitable next step on the long path to Trump’s Golden Dome.
Desperate Measures for America’s Homeland Defense
What’s more, if the United States was ever faced with the prospect of a nuclear missile attack from a rival state, it would represent a total breakdown of all norms—a true worst-case scenario. Under such conditions, Washington would need to throw everything at its disposal to mitigate whatever damage that nuclear missile attack would cause.
So, even relying on just two highly maneuverable X-37Bs to work overtime to burn as many of the enemy’s incoming nukes as possible in space, working with other missile defense platforms that would be integrated into the Golden Dome, would be a key element of the last-ditch effort to stave off nuclear Armageddon for the United States.
In all, the Trump administration has clearly demonstrated a commitment to preserving America’s national defense in the age of untrammeled nuclear proliferation among rival states. Developing the Golden Dome is the key component of his grand strategy for creating a reliable defense—and the X-37B will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in the Golden Dome’s completion.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg){kind=link}