China and Russia have put offensive weapons in space, such as satellites with abilities to disable critical US satellites, which can make the US vulnerable to attack.

Last year, the US claimed that Russia was developing a space-based nuclear weapon that could loiter in space for long durations, then release a burst that would take out satellites around it.

Trump said Tuesday that he had not yet spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the Golden Dome program, "but at the right time, we will," he told reporters at the White House.

In a joint statement earlier this month, China and Russia called the Golden Dome idea "deeply destabilizing in nature," warning it would turn "outer space into an environment for placing weapons and an arena for armed confrontation."

There is no money for the project yet, and Golden Dome overall is “still in the conceptual stage,” newly confirmed Air Force Secretary Troy Meink told senators during a hearing Tuesday.

While the president picked the concept he wanted, the Pentagon is still developing the requirements that Golden Dome will need to meet — which is not the way new systems are normally developed.

The Pentagon and US Northern Command are still drafting what is known as an initial capabilities document, the US official said. That is how Northern Command, which is responsible for homeland defense, identifies what it will need the system to do.

The US already has many missile defense capabilities, such as the Patriot missile batteries that the US has provided to Ukraine to defend against incoming missiles as well as an array of satellites in orbit to detect missile launches. Some of those existing systems will be incorporated into Golden Dome.

Trump directed the Pentagon to pursue the space-based interceptors in an executive order during the first week of his presidency.

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