WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has announced the concept he wants for his future Golden Dome missile defense program — a multilayered system that for the first time will put U.S. weapons in space. Speaking Tuesday in the Oval Office, Trump said the system would cost $175 billion. He expects it will be “fully operational before the end of my term,” which ends in 2029, and have the capability of intercepting missiles “even if they are launched from space.” A U.S. official familiar with the program says it’s likelier that the complex system may have some initial capability by that point. The Air Force secretary told senators Tuesday that Golden Dome overall is “still in the conceptual stage.”
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