By Guo Xiaobing

US President Donald Trump recently announced the finalized framework of the so-called "Golden Dome" system, marking the beginning of the construction of a next-generation missile defense network, which has drawn much attention. According to the plan, once completed, the system will be capable of intercepting missiles launched not only from other parts of the world but also from outer space. This marks the latest US move in its pursuit of absolute security. It would undermine global strategic balance and stability, aggravate the trend of turning outer space into a weapon and a battlefield, and threaten world peace and security.

The "Golden Dome" will have multiple layers across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors. Space-based missile defense is set to become the primary focus. At a congressional hearing on May 20, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force (USSF), stated that USSF would play a central role in the implementation of the "Golden Dome" system.

According to Presidential Executive Order No. 14186, which sets the framework for the implementation plan, eight core tasks have been identified, with no fewer than three explicitly focused on space-based components. The first is the acceleration of the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor layer. The second is the development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept. The third is the development and deployment of a custody layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. To be specific, it refers to a low-Earth orbit satellite network tasked with global battlefield monitoring and target identification, including tracking regional military operations and troop movements.

In terms of funding, the Trump administration has allocated $25 billion in initial funding for the "Golden Dome" system in the 2026 fiscal year, with approximately $20 billion designated for the development of space-based components, including $7.2 billion for the development and procurement of space-based sensors, $5.6 billion for the development of space-based missile interceptors, $2.4 billion for non-kinetic missile defense capabilities, and $2 billion for the development of military satellites.

Tracing its roots, the new US administration's "Golden Dome" concept can be seen as a continuation of President Reagan's "Star Wars" program during the Cold War. According to Donald Trump, "Ronald Reagan wanted this many years ago, but we really didn't have the technology many years ago." It can be said that the "Golden Dome" is essentially a modern iteration of the "Star Wars" program, only with greater ambition and posing an even graver threat to peace and security in outer space.

By openly developing space-based offensive weapons under the "Golden Dome" system, the US is flagrantly violating the principle of the peaceful use of outer space. The international community has long exercised great caution regarding space weaponization. Until now, no country has openly deployed kinetic or non-kinetic offensive weapons in orbit. The US plans for the "Golden Dome" missile defense system involve large-scale deployment of space-based reconnaissance and tracking systems, as well as space-based interceptors. This will heighten the risks of space conflicts and warfare, severely threatening humanity's long-term sustainable and peaceful development and utilization of outer space.

China and Russia have long advocated for the prevention of space weaponization. In 2002, the two countries began jointly promoting the conclusion of an international treaty on this issue. In 2008, they submitted the Draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force against Outer Space Objects (PPWT) at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Later, an updated version of the draft treaty was introduced in 2014. However, these efforts have consistently met with staunch resistance from the US. Washington has offered various pretexts. It initially claimed that there was no risk of space weaponization, later disputed the definitions and verification mechanisms involved, and more recently, attempted to disrupt the China-Russia agenda by proposing a moratorium on destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile testing. To this day, the true intention behind the persistent obstruction of space arms control of the US has finally come to light. All the tactics and rhetoric have merely served to leave room for the eventual deployment of offensive weapons in outer space.

Space is a global public sphere and a shared asset of all mankind. By bringing offensive weapons into outer space, the "Golden Dome" system of the US risks unleashing a Pandora's box that could severely undermine the peaceful exploration and utilization of outer space for all humanity. The international community should accelerate efforts to launch formal negotiations and use the treaty draft proposed by China and Russia as a basis to prevent any endeavor aimed at militarizing space or transforming it into a theater of war.

(The author is a research professor at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.)

Editor's Note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.