In late 2025 and early this year, the Space Force awarded 20 Other Transaction Authority agreements, flexible contracts not bound by certain federal procurement regulations, Space Force Systems Command said in a news release. The awards are worth up to $3.2 billion, and the dozen companies range from well-known prime contractors to smaller and defense players. 

They include Anduril, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics, GITAI USA Inc, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar Inc, Raytheon, Sci-Tec Inc, SpaceX, True Anomaly Inc, and Turion Space Corp., according to a Space Force press release and a Space Systems Command spokesperson.

"Adversary capabilities are advancing rapidly, and our acquisition strategies must move even faster to counter the growing speed and maneuverability of modern missile threats," Col. Bryon McClain, the space combat power program executive office, said in a press release. He added the Other Transaction Authority Agreements “attracted both traditional and non-traditional vendors, while harnessing American innovation, and ensuring continuous competition.”

The service’s space-based interceptor program is focused on fielding low Earth orbit satellites that can take down a variety of missiles in the “boost, midcourse, and glide” phases of their trajectory, the service said in the news release. 

Last week, Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein, the Golden Dome czar, told Congress that development of space-based interceptors that would take down a missile in its initial launch phase could be too expensive for the project’s proposed $185 billion budget, and may not make the final architecture. 

Developing the technology is only the start. To provide the kind of comprehensive missile-defense coverage promised by President Trump, Golden Dome would need not just thousands of satellites, but tens or even hundreds of thousands, MIT physicists and others have argued.

Still, the Space Force remains optimistic that it can demonstrate Golden Dome’s ability to stop a variety of missiles before the end of Trump’s term. 

“With the commitment and collaboration of these industry partners, the Space Force will demonstrate an initial capability in 2028,” McClain said.

Yesterday, Defense Department officials and military leaders joined Guetlein at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia, to discuss the missile defense project in an event limited to only a few media outlets. Despite a lack of public details about Golden Dome-related spending and architecture, officials claimed “ahead of schedule and on budget,” according to a Pentagon press release. 

“We are moving with purpose and urgency to forge a shield that is layered, integrated, and automated,” Guetlein said. “The progress on display today is tangible proof that this is not a future concept, but a reality we must build now."

Almost none of the $17.5 billion in the 2027 budget request for Golden Dome would come from the Defense Department’s baseline spending, with the administration choosing to bet on yet-to-be-approved reconciliation funds instead. Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told Space Symposium attendees in Colorado Springs earlier this month that additional reconciliation spending wasn’t a guarantee. 

Office of Management and Budget projections show Golden Dome funds being folded into the baseline budget in future years, with a $14.7 billion estimate in 2028 which is projected to rise to $16 billion by 2031.

U.S. Central Command announced on Friday that the carriers Abraham Lincoln, Gerald R. Ford, and George H.W. Bush are all in the Middle East, the first time in decades that three have operated in the region. Hegseth said during the Pentagon press briefing that as the number of warships participating in the blockade grows, the U.S.was “not anxious for a deal” and its military had “all the time in the world” as the war extended into its 55th day.

“But with this blockade, the clock is not on their side,” the secretary said. “Moreover, President Trump has authorized the United States Navy to destroy any Iranian fast boats that attempt to put mines in the water or disrupt passage through the Strait of Hormuz, to shoot and kill.”

Hegseth declined to say when the blockade would end. He said the operation would continue for “as long as it takes,” just as Trump has indefinitely extended the ceasefire with Iran until they submit a new proposal for negotiations. Since the blockade began last week, the U.S. has turned around 34 ships, and interdicted at least three vessels. 

“Transit is occurring, but more limited than anybody would like to see, and with more risk than people would like to see, but that's because Iran is doing irresponsible things with small, fast boats,” Hegseth said. “This is a real full blockade. We'll use up to and including lethal force if necessary.”

Hegseth also took a dig at allies and said the war in Iran—which was started by the United States and Israel—“should not be America's fight alone.” 

“We are not counting on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do, and might want to start doing less, talking, having less fancy conferences in Europe and get in a boat,” Hegseth said. “This is much more their fight than ours.”

Gen. Dan Caine, the Joint Chiefs chairman, told reporters that the U.S. military had used force against three vessels that were using deceptive shipping methods.

On Sunday, U.S. Marines boarded the Touska, a 965-foot Iranian container ship, after the crew failed to heed the U.S. Navy’s warning shots. A destroyer fired nine rounds from its Mark 45 surface guns into the ship’s engine room and it was subsequently boarded. The crew and vessel remain in U.S. custody, Caine said.

The next day, a Navy control team took over a tanker, the Botswana-controlled and aircraft carrier-sized Tifani, in the Indian Ocean at the request of the Justice Department, Caine said. It was carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, he said.

Another ship, a very large crude carrier known as Majestic X, was interdicted by U.S. forces in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday. The chairman did not disclose the cargo of that stateless ship, but said all the vessels and crews were in U.S. custody. 

“We will continue to conduct similar maritime interdiction actions and activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans against Iranian ships and vessels of the dark fleet,” Caine said. 

The U.S. has used naval blockades against Cuba and Venezuela, but neither has had the desired effect, said Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities. Cuba has not yet had a change in leadership and the covert military capture of former Venezuelan Nicolás Maduro ultimately led to regime change as opposed to the use of U.S. warships.

While Hegseth claims time is on the U.S. military’s side, Kavanagh disagrees.

“The costs for the United States and its allies (and the global economy) are higher than they are for Iran, and Iran’s stakes are much greater,” Kavanagh said in a message. “The blockade may put pressure on Iran over time, but it plays into Iran’s hands—extending the war and allowing the regime to survive. Coercion will not end the war or reopen the strait. The only exit strategy is through political compromise.”