The US wants to remove Elon Musk’s company from the $ 175 billion shield project?

Mr. Trump’s “golden arch” project (Photo: Reuters).
Western media cited three sources that the US government approached Amazon’s Kuiper project and large defense corporations to discuss the construction of “golden arches”.
This change marks a strategic turning point to reduce the dependence on Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, the company with Starlink and Starshield satellite networks currently play a key role in the communication system.militaryof America.
This movement took place in the context of the relationship between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk significantly worse from last month.
Even before the two powerful characters were publicly controversial, the Pentagon and the White House officials began to seek alternative options for SpaceX, due to concerns that depend on a single partner for a large part of the ambitious space defense system worth $ 175 billion.
Mr. Musk and SpaceX have not commented. Later, Mr. Musk wrote on social network X that his company “never tried to bid in any contract related to this program. We still prioritize focusing on bringing humanity to Mars”.
However, with the scale and achievement of more than 9,000 Starlink satellite and working experience with the Government, SpaceX is still considered to have a solid internal position to take on important parts in the “golden arch”, especially satellite discharge contracts, according to sources.
The Kuiper project, currently only launched 78 satellites out of the 3,000 low orbital satellites as planned, was approached by the Pentagon to participate in the program, showing that the Trump administration is ready to integrate commercial technology companies into national defense infrastructure, beyond the framework of traditional contractors.
The ambition to build a “yellow arch” is like an expanded version of the “iron arch” defense system of Israel, but with a much larger scale, requiring a complex satellite network covering a wide area.
Although SpaceX is still the leading candidate thanks to the ability to launch satellites in large quantities, their contribution rate in the program may be narrowed.
The US government has approached new missile launchers such as Stoke Space and Rocket Lab, names are gradually affirming their position and will be allowed to participate in bidding for satellite launchers when the program progresses.
A US official said: “Later, each individual launch will be bidding, and we are required to give another party the opportunity, not only SpaceX.”
Traditional defense “giants” such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and L3Harris are also negotiating to support the “yellow arch”.
Mr. Trump started the “yellow arch” initiative just a week after starting the second term, and is promoting rapid implementation. General Michael Guetlein of the space force, has just been confirmed by the Senate on July 17, will lead the program with the full authority.
According to a previously disclosed direction from Defense Minister Pete Hegseth, Mr. Guetlein had 30 days to build a team, 60 days to submit the original system design, and 120 days to submit a complete implementation plan, including satellite and ground station details.