With hundreds of billions of dollars at stake for the US’s ambitious Golden Dome project, weapons-maker Lockheed Martin is aiming to achieve a major milestone. The company wants to test a space-based missile interceptor demonstrator by 2028, capable of even targeting highly maneuverable hypersonic missiles.
Even though the key elements of the overall architecture of the Golden Dome project are still being finalized by the government and the defense department, space-based missile interceptors are considered the most critical part of the ambitious project.
While the sheer size and scope of the project, involving ground-based radars, space-based sensors, and missile interceptors, as well as ground and air-launched missile interceptors, means that there will be more than one, and perhaps many prime contractors for the project, Lockheed Martin hopes that it can win a lion-share of the contract by achieving the first mover advantage in one of the most crucial part of the project, the space-based missile interceptors.
“I believe, based on the sheer numbers they’re asking about, it’s going to take more than just one big prime (contractor). It might take multiple of us, as well as a lot of the rest of the industry,” Amanda Pound, director of advanced programs development at Lockheed Martin, said.
“The goal is to field an on-orbit demonstration of a space-based interceptor by 2028,” Pound said.
“We have the capability to do that. We’re ready to support,” she added.
More importantly, currently, there is no defense against hypersonic missiles, a niche area in which many US adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran, have achieved a key advantage over the US.
These missiles maneuver unpredictably while traveling at hypersonic speeds towards their target, making it difficult for existing missile defense systems, including the highly advanced THAAD and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) systems, to intercept them.
In the recent Iran-Israel war and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, many such hypersonic missiles hit their intended target despite the presence of advanced AD systems.
Lockheed believes its space-based missile interceptors can defend against these hypersonic threats.
How Will Lockheed’s Space-Based Interceptors Work?
Currently, Lockheed Martin is exploring several interception technologies for its space-based missile interceptors.
Earlier this week, Pound told reporters at the company’s facility that it is pursuing a variety of missile-killing satellite ideas, from lasers to satellites that turn into projectiles and maneuver toward hard-to-hit missiles, Defense One reported.
Meanwhile, Lockheed also announced the establishment of a new “prototyping hub” designed to virtually test advanced concepts for space-based missile defense, including emerging technologies from partners or smaller developers.
The hub was established at the company’s Center for Innovation in Suffolk, Virginia, also known as “the Lighthouse.”
“Prototyping is already underway at the Lighthouse, where real capabilities are being tested against current and future threat scenarios, from ground to space. These capabilities include: threat evaluation, battle management, mission planning tools, sensor tasking, AI/ML integration and optimization, joint planning, robust data link sharing, and more,” a company statement read.
“We’ve built an environment where multiple companies can come together, collaborate, and deliver real mission outcomes fast,” Thad Beckert, Golden Dome C2 director at Lockheed Martin, said.
“No one company is going to bring all of the solutions; we are committed to working across industry to help the government succeed in achieving a unified, layered homeland defense that will protect our nation now and well into the future,” Beckert added.
The Long History Of Space-Based Missile Interceptors
Lockheed Martin is aiming to be the first company to test a space-based missile interceptor demonstrator. However, the concept of having a space-based missile interceptor is fairly old, at least six decades old.
The idea of having missile-killer satellites dates back to the early 1960s.
Space-based missile defenses were initially considered impractical because of the on-orbit mass associated with a constellation of nuclear-tipped interceptors. However, gradually, scientists concluded that it might become possible to develop an interceptor that could destroy targets (missiles) by physically colliding with them.
This hit-to-kill (HTK) concept eliminated the need for a nuclear warhead and replaced it with a simple, cheap, lightweight mechanical device, said Donald R Baucom in his research paper Space and Missile Defense.
In the 1960s, the US Air Force (USAF) was actively pursuing several space-based interceptors (SBIs) concepts, collectively known as ballistic missile boost intercept, or BAMBI.
Among these concepts was the Space Patrol Active Defense (SPAD) system. It featured a 30-ton satellite equipped with an infrared sensor for detecting rocket boosters, an onboard computer for tracking their trajectories, and 140 interceptors, each weighing 300 pounds.
Launched from the host satellite, every interceptor would expand a wire mesh net spanning 15 to 50 feet in radius, embedded with numerous 1-gram pellets attached to the spokes. While these pellets had the potential to harm ICBM warheads, leading to their destruction during atmospheric reentry, their primary target was the boosters’ fragile fuel tanks.
Impacting at speeds reaching 60,000 feet per second, they would cause devastating structural failure. For optimal performance, the plan called for deploying 500 such satellites in orbit at an altitude of 250 miles above Earth’s surface.
However, technical difficulties in developing infrared sensors that could detect missile launches during their boost phase, as well as difficulties in guiding interceptors to their targets, led to the abandonment of the project.
The idea of SBIs was revisited during the Reagan era, who famously initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or Star Wars. The Reagan administration announced the decision to begin the SDI program in 1983.
One of the concepts to emerge from the SDI initiative was the Brilliant Pebbles project. Its architecture involved launching hundreds of missile-firing satellites in orbit, with each satellite equipped with sensors, an onboard computer, and small missiles. These missiles were to work on the Hit-to-Kill (HIT) concept.
However, once again, the project was abandoned due to cost overruns and technological bottlenecks. Another discouraging factor was the availability of advanced missile-defense systems like the Patriot, which provided effective defense against existing threats such as ballistic missiles.
Incidentally, one key contributor to the Brilliant Pebbles concept was Martin Marietta, which later merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.
Since then, both Russia and China have made significant progress in developing hypersonic weapons, against which the existing AD systems are ineffective. Thus, the US is once again turning to the idea of space-based interceptors.
Additionally, the use of lasers could substantially decrease the in-orbit mass of the satellites. Furthermore, the use of lasers could give these satellites unlimited magazine depth.
Lockheed Martin has substantial experience in designing and developing AD systems. It is the prime contractor for THAAD, and it also produces the advanced PAC-3 MSE interceptors, which are integrated into the Patriot systems.
The company hopes to leverage its experience in AD systems while developing space-based interceptors for the Golden Dome project. However, Lockheed Martin will face tough competition from companies like SpaceX while bidding for Golden Dome projects.
