WASHINGTON — The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a national missile defense system broadly aligned with President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome executive order could cost roughly $1.2 trillion over 20 years, a figure that dramatically exceeds the Pentagon’s public estimate of about $185 billion.

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Sandra Erwin writes about military space programs, policy, technology and the industry that supports this sector. She has covered the military, the Pentagon, Congress and the defense industry for nearly two decades as editor of NDIA’s National Defense...