Golden Dome and the velocity race: Why ground-based optics are the key to mission persistence

While often described as a moonshot for missile defense, the Golden Dome for America mission is in reality something even more challenging: an exercise in disciplined systems engineering under threat. Hypersonic glide vehicles, maneuvering ballistic missiles and complex decoys are compressing timelines while raising the stakes for any gap in accuracy. In this environment, the success of Golden Dome will depend less on any single interceptor and more on whether the sensor architecture is resilient, persistent and affordable at scale.