Another 340 companies and schools have been added to the Golden Dome missile defense contract vehicle, leaving only a small handful of the original 2,400-plus applicants out of the running for a pool of work worth up to $151 billion.
On Thursday, the Missile Defense Agency announced the third list of organizations deemed eligible to bid on the multiple-award indefinite-delivery/quantity contract, known as the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense, or SHIELD. Several U.S. schools were among the 340 additions, including Northern Arizona University, New York University, and the University of Dayton in Ohio.
In December, MDA made two announcements that identified a total of 2,100 awardees. Now a total of 2,440 applicants have been approved, out of a original pool of 2,463, leaving 23 applicants out of the running. Thursday’s announcement said said the large group “encompasses a broad range of work areas that allows for the rapid delivery of innovative capabilities,” and added that work under the SHIELD contract “will continue through December 2035.”
A Missile Defense Agency spokesperson did not respond by publication time to requests for more details about those remaining offers.
The announcement came one day after President Donald Trump said U.S. control of Greenland was “vital” for the Golden Dome defense initiative, although experts were quick to point out that the existing Space Force base and longstanding diplomatic agreements counter his claim.
Golden Dome’s architecture—pitched by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as a catch-all missile defense system to counter ICBMs, hypersonic missiles, and drones of all sizes—has not been made public.
The administration says space-based interceptors are key to stopping long-range missiles. The Space Force has started awarding contracts to develop the needed technology. In November, the service awarded contracts to several companies under a competitive, and secret, other transaction agreement. In December, it sought proposals for a space-based “kinetic midcourse interceptor” prototype intended to ram enemy missiles.
In an executive order signed last month, Trump said the nation will achieve “space superiority” by “developing and demonstrating prototype next-generation missile defense technologies by 2028.”
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