Elon Musk’s SpaceX is leading a bid to build a key part of President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield along with partners Anduril Industries of Costa Mesa and Peter Thiel’s Palantir Technologies (Nasdaq: PLTR), Reuters reported, quoting six people familiar with the matter.
The SpaceX group has pitched the proposal to the Pentagon and has “emerged as frontrunners,” according to Reuters.
SpaceX proposes a constellation of 400 to more than 1,000 missile defense satellites, sources told Reuters. Anduril is known primarily as a drone maker but has branched out into other areas of defense.
Musk has been slashing the federal government workforce and exercising influence over government affairs, leading to questions of conflict of interest.
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