The United States has publicly acknowledged weapons in space, and U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill.
On September 14, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink publicly acknowledged that the Space Force has “on-orbit space control weapons.” At the same event, Meink announced that space-based interceptors for Golden Dome are now “flight ready.” Together, the announcements demonstrate that the U.S. is building up its military presence in space. Congress must ensure taxpayer accountability for the dramatic costs of this space militarization.
The Space Force’s fiscal year 2027 budget request includes $21.6 billion for “space control,” a roughly 158% increase from 2026, consuming nearly 30% of the total Space Force budget. $19.4 billion of that, about 90%, is opaque or classified. While having classified items in the Pentagon’s budget is sensible to protect national security, that is a massive transparency gap. The Pentagon has disclosed virtually nothing about the weapons in space beyond confirming their existence. Taxpayers are in the dark about what they are paying for, leaving them unable to evaluate whether it is a worthwhile investment.
Golden Dome shows how quickly costs for the militarization of space can escalate. Golden Dome would be a missile defense system with major space-based portions, utilizing satellites to fire missiles that intercept incoming missiles before they reach U.S. soil. Secretary Meink described the new space control weapons as separate from Golden Dome, but both programs share the same acquisition pattern. Space-based military infrastructure is hardware with short orbital lifespans, rapid cost growth, and minimal public accounting. That makes Golden Dome’s ballooning price tag a preview of what taxpayers can expect from unaccountable space weapons spending.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that a notional national missile defense system built to match the goals laid out in the Golden Dome plan could cost roughly $1.2 trillion over 20 years. The Pentagon has not released Golden Dome’s actual objective architecture, so CBO could not price the real program directly. No one can. The satellites alone, called “space-based interceptors,” account for $720 billion. Other estimates put the total cost to taxpayers much higher. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) estimated that a robust Golden Dome architecture could cost $3.6 trillion over two decades. Under a separate scenario, AEI placed the cost of the space-based interceptors alone at a staggering $6 trillion.
CBO also found that its notional system, which would use about 7,800 space-based interceptor satellites, would need roughly 1,600 replacement satellites every year because the satellites only last five years in orbit before atmospheric drag degrades them. This would not be a one-time procurement. It would create a permanent replacement pipeline of roughly 1,600 new interceptors every year that Americans have to pay for, indefinitely. All of this, despite research suggesting that the missile defense system may be unviable to begin with. Taxpayers cannot trust that the space control weapons will be any different without additional oversight.
Secretary Meink declined to say whether the weapons are kinetic or designed to destroy other satellites. If they are kinetic anti-satellite weapons, they could severely worsen the problem of space debris, threatening basic services Americans rely on, from GPS navigation to weather tracking. History offers a preview of what destructive action in orbit can leave behind. In 2021, a Russian anti-satellite missile test created over 1,500 pieces of debris, forcing the crew of the International Space Station to prepare to abandon the station. Debris from a similar Chinese test in 2007 remains in orbit today. A nationwide GPS disruption is estimated to cost the U.S. economy roughly $1 billion per day. Before taxpayers pay for more space weaponry, the Pentagon needs to provide assurance that it won’t make this problem worse.
The Pentagon defends these investments as necessary to counter China and Russia’s increasingly capable space programs, which could threaten critical U.S. satellites – a real threat. That makes cost oversight more important, not less. Strong congressional oversight, transparency, and cost discipline can both save taxpayers money and strengthen national security.
Congress must take action to ensure the space control program is fiscally responsible. At the very least, there are three steps Congress can take to protect taxpayers. First, Congress should require unclassified program item toplines, allowing the public to see in more detail where their money is going. Second, Congress should direct the Government Accountability Office to review the program, ensuring the public can trust the program is not being wasteful. Third, Congress should require regular classified congressional briefings on the space-control costs, acquisition plans, and performance. Without those steps, taxpayers are paying billions for programs they cannot trust are cost effective and strategically necessary.
