U.S. Ramps Up Space Warfare Plans and $151B Missile-Defense Contracting

Axios reports that major powers, led by the United States, are accelerating preparations for war in space as satellites become central to modern combat and civilian life. The piece details how U.S. Space Command used space-based capabilities to guide forces during Operation Absolute Resolve, the raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a blacked-out Caracas, while Space Force leaders now openly call space a 'warfighting domain.' Under President Trump, the administration has not only created Space Force and moved U.S. Space Command to Alabama, but also unveiled a $175 billion 'Golden Dome' space-based missile defense concept and ordered nuclear reactors deployed on the Moon, moves that have energized and complicated existing space treaties. On the industry side, more than 2,400 applicants are vying for the Missile Defense Agency’s Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense contract, worth up to $151 billion, as firms like Anduril position themselves to build orbital defenses against rapidly growing Chinese and Russian anti-satellite and space-weapons programs. Experts and humanitarian lawyers quoted warn that while the Pentagon and contractors talk about 'dominating the high frontier,' the same satellites being militarized are vital for weather forecasts, GPS, and financial transactions, and any future conflict in orbit could have catastrophic effects on daily life.