International | Astropolitics

Star wars returns

Donald Trump’s quest for orbital dominance

Communications satellite orbiting the Earth Earth from Space.
Photograph: Alamy
|4 min read

“RONALD REAGAN wanted it many years ago,” declared Donald Trump, “but they didn’t have the technology.” Now, he said, America could finally build a “cutting-edge missile-defence shield”. Mr Trump’s Golden Dome—an allusion to Israel’s more modest Iron Dome—is intended to protect America from attack using, among other things, hundreds or thousands of satellites that can both track and attack enemy missiles as they take off.

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This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Star wars returns ”

From the May 24th 2025 edition

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