--- title: "Trump Hires Orbital Towing Company to Build Space Interceptors" description: "The Pentagon recently hired Impulse Space, a space tug company, to build out the orbital layer of his Golden Dome." date: "2026-04-11" modified: "2026-04-11" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/space/trump-space-tug-interceptor" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" --- # Trump Hires Orbital Towing Company to Build Space Interceptors ![A spacecraft labeled "IMPULSE" is shown in space alongside a satellite with four solar panel arrays arranged in an X shape. The satellite has a circular, dish-like structure in the center. In the background, a partially illuminated moon is visible against a star-filled black sky.]() *Impulse Space* When the goal is to construct a multi-tiered orbital missile-defense platform, there aren't a lot of contractors to choose from. Sure, there's Elon Musk's SpaceX, whose satellites are [inexplicably exploding]() in low earth orbit. Or there's Moog Space and Defense Incorporated, currently the subject of a $77.9 million lawsuit after it delivered numerous spacecraft nearly a [year behind schedule](). In today's orbital environment, beggars can't be choosers, which may explain why Donald Trump tapped the space tug company Impulse Space to build the orbital layer of his convoluted Golden Dome missile defense system. First [revealed by *Bloomberg*](), the decision involves a partnership with [controversial military tech firm]() Anduril Industries. The companies have inked a deal with the Pentagon to design prototypes of "space based interceptors," which are vehicular weapons platforms meant to destroy US-bound missiles from orbit. Under the arrangement, Impulse would work beneath Anduril as a subcontractor, *Bloomberg* reported. Impulse, founded in 2021 by former SpaceX co-founder Tom Mueller — who [famously worked as a lumberjack]() to put himself through college — is an up and coming player in the wacky world of space tugs, more professionally known as "orbital transfer vehicles." OTVs are satellites designed to carry spaceborn cargo to various orbits. For example, NASA might contract an OTV company to drag a derelict weather satellite from geostationary Earth orbit down to low Earth orbit, where it can — ideally — safely disintegrate into the atmosphere, thus clearing room for a replacement. Much of this remains theoretical. NASA [previously studied]() space tugs back in the late 1960s, but they never came to be thanks to budget cuts in the 1970s. The space agency's most recent motions in the OTV space came in 2025, when it contracted [six satellite companies]() to publish feasibility studies on low-cost tugs — one of which was by Impulse. Speaking of Impulse, it only launched its first OTV [in 2023](), a 650-pound craft roughly the size of a chunky dishwasher. Impulse's relative youth notwithstanding, there has yet to be *any* successful demonstration of an orbital craft [intercepting a missile](). And let's be real: while contractors will probably make some money off it, it's hard to believe Trump's [Golden Dome]() will ever become any more of a reality than Ronald Reagan's doomed "Star Wars" missile defense system. **More on space:** *[New Chinese Spacecraft Tests Robotic Octopus Tentacle for Refueling in Orbit]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()