Trump’s project was being developed back in the Reagan era.
Author: Talib Aliyev, analyst, exclusively for Sangar
In May 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump, within the framework of the national security enhancement strategy, announced the development of a defense system called the “Golden Dome,” which is allegedly capable of intercepting missiles “even if they are launched from the opposite side of the world.”
This initiative is in fact a continuation of the “Strategic Defense Initiative,” proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1984, which was not implemented due to its extremely high cost. According to the developers’ concept, the core component of the complex is supposed to be an extensive network of reconnaissance and combat satellites, able to detect missile launches of any type in real time with high accuracy and, if necessary, destroy them using orbital laser, kinetic, or radio-frequency weapons.
Such actions by Washington directly undermine the global balance of power and the principle of mutual security, which rules out increasing one nation’s security at the expense of weakening other countries.
Against this backdrop, the announcement of the creation of the “Golden Dome” system has faced criticism from experts. According to Professor Joan Johnson-Freese of the U.S. Naval War College, Washington’s moves could trigger a new round of the arms race, since “if one country begins to deploy missile defense systems in space, others will regard it as a threat to their security and act accordingly.” Other specialists in arms control have also pointed out that the U.S. leadership is actively pursuing the unilateral militarization of outer space in order to secure global dominance, which ultimately leads to the destruction of the existing architecture of international security.
