U.s. Space Force Picks Johns Hopkins for Space-based Interceptor Program

The U.S. Space Force has selected Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory as the technical direction agent for its Space-Based Interceptor (SBI) program, a key element of President Donald Trump's proposed Golden Dome missile defense system. The service aims to demonstrate initial capability by 2028. The SBI program would field a fleet of interceptor spacecraft in low-Earth orbit designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, and other advanced threats—something the United States has never deployed. Golden Dome is envisioned as a nationwide missile defense network integrating sensors, interceptors, and command-and-control systems across land, sea, air, and space, often compared to Israel's Iron Dome but on a far larger scale.

The proposed constellation would consist of proliferated small spacecraft capable of boost-phase, midcourse, and glide-phase engagements, receiving targeting data from missile-tracking satellites. The concept echoes the Reagan-era Strategic Defense Initiative, particularly the Brilliant Pebbles proposal of thousands of autonomous interceptors, which was canceled in 1994 before deployment.