Voyager’s head of national security Matt Magaña: There’s a clear signal from the government that they want to tap into commercial innovations for Golden Dome
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s ambitious missile defense initiative dubbed “Golden Dome” is triggering a flurry of activity across the aerospace and defense sectors as companies jockey for position in what could become one of the Pentagon’s largest procurement programs.
“There’s a clear signal from the government that they want to tap into commercial innovations for Golden Dome,” Matt Magaña, president of Voyager Technologies’ defense and national security business, told SpaceNews.
The program, initially called “Iron Dome for America” before being renamed Golden Dome, aims to shield the U.S. from an evolving array of aerial threats — ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles among them. The system’s architecture builds on existing Pentagon systems designed to counter tactical and intercontinental ballistic missiles, but seeks more advanced ground-based defenses for terminal-phase interception, space sensors for tracking launches and space-based interceptors to strike missiles in their boost phase.
Last month, hundreds of industry executives descended on Huntsville, Alabama, for a Missile Defense Agency briefing outlining the Pentagon’s implementation plans for the executive order establishing the program.
Opportunity and complexity
For companies like Voyager, which pivoted from commercial space ventures to national security, the program represents both opportunity and complexity. Previously called Voyager Space, the firm last month rebranded ahead of an anticipated initial public offering. Magaña said he could not comment on any planned IPO.
He said a takeaway from recent discussions on Golden Dome is that the Department of Defense intends to break from its traditional procurement approach and will seek to leverage a broader supplier base.
“In order to deliver it, it has to be done affordably. And we cannot do what we’ve been doing traditionally and expect to be able to answer the call for these types of things,” said Magaña, a former Raytheon executive with prior experience in missile defense programs.
“There is a big ecosystem of things that need to happen” to bring this system to fruition, Magaña noted. He said Voyager is positioning itself to contribute technologies for ground systems, space sensors, and interceptor missile components.
The company is currently a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin, developing a solid-propulsion subsystem for the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) that the Missile Defense Agency plans to field for the U.S. missile defense architecture. Voyager developed a solid propulsion roll control system designed to stabilize a missile’s flight trajectory.
For Golden Dome, Voyager also plans to offer edge computing systems that it is developing in partnership with defense contractor Palantir.
Scale and timeline challenges
Commercial firms in the space industry eyeing defense opportunities will be challenged in Golden Dome when it comes to scale and manufacturing capacity, Magaña observed, as many companies aren’t equipped to manufacture at the rate required for a national defense program of this magnitude.
“We have to come up with solutions where we’re partnering across the board,” he explained. “We are all talking to each other on a daily basis, talking to counterparts that are delivering missile systems, with folks that are delivering space systems.”
Companies interested in participating in the Golden Dome program were required to submit proposals to the Missile Defense Agency and the Space Force’s Space Development Agency by Feb. 28. The administration has set an aggressive timeline, calling for technology demonstrations to begin in late 2026 and continue through 2030.
“Everybody is trying to position themselves in a place to deliver capability,” Magaña said. “The government is moving very fast, and they’re also trying to figure it out at the same time.”
Finding the ‘sweet spot’
Companies in the space and defense industrial base will have to balance capability against affordability. “The challenge is to find the sweet spot between capability and price, and I think that’s where we are, both industry and the government, we are trying to learn from each other on where the sweet spot is,” Magaña explained.
For commercial space businesses transitioning to defense applications, this balancing act is particularly complex. Many have focused primarily on research and development rather than large-scale production.
“When you start talking about defense and tactical type applications, it’s a harder bridge between the commercial and the defense side,” Magaña noted.
This transition creates what he described as a “chicken and egg” scenario between government and industry. Companies need to scale up manufacturing to achieve the price points required for the system, but may need government funding to support that expansion, as private investors may be unwilling to bear all the costs.
“This is a case where companies have to balance being a good steward of taxpayer dollars with being a good steward of investors’ capital,” Magaña said.
For many smaller innovative firms, the solution increasingly appears to be partnerships with prime contractors or large commercial entities that already possess the necessary manufacturing infrastructure and experience navigating complex defense procurement processes.
“DoD is very much pushing the commercial piece,” Magaña said. “It’s not something that I’ve got to convince them. I think they’re asking for more of it” because it should make the system more affordable.
