ASTS, RKLB Stocks Jump Overnight: Trump’s $1.2 Trillion Golden Dome Spending Boom Fuels Space Defense Bets

• The Congressional Budget Office said acquisition costs alone could exceed $1 trillion.
• RKLB gained momentum after the company and RTX unit Raytheon were selected for the U.S. Space Force’s Space-Based Interceptor program.
• ASTS highlighted defense opportunities from Golden Dome, including military communications, tactical satellite systems and space-based radar capabilities.

Shares of AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) and Rocket Lab (RKLB) jumped overnight heading into Wednesday as investors hunted for potential winners from U.S. President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome defense push after new estimates pegged the program’s cost at $1.2 trillion.

While ASTS stock rose 2% overnight, RKLB shares jumped 4%. 

Golden Dome Sparks Space Rally

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that Golden Dome, Trump’s proposed missile-defense shield, could cost $1.2 trillion to develop, deploy and operate over the next 20 years, significantly higher than the Pentagon’s earlier $185 billion estimate.

Golden Dome aims to expand existing U.S. missile defenses through advanced interceptor missiles, AI-enabled tracking systems, command-and-control infrastructure and massive space-based defense layers in a bid to detect and potentially destroy incoming threats directly from orbit.

The estimates triggered investor interest in smaller space companies with direct exposure to launch systems, satellite manufacturing and space-based defense tech.

The CBO estimated acquisition costs alone could surpass $1 trillion, with 70% coming from the system’s space-based interceptor layer, including a constellation of nearly 7,800 satellites. The Pentagon has already awarded contracts worth up to $3.2 billion to multiple companies under its Space-Based Interceptor (SBI) initiative, while long-term production contracts from Golden Dome could eventually generate between $1.8 billion and $3.4 billion annually.

RKLB Eyes Golden Dome Contracts

Rocket Lab has emerged as one of the clearest direct beneficiaries after the company and the RTX unit Raytheon were selected last week to demonstrate capabilities for the U.S. Space Force’s Space-Based Interceptor program, which focuses on hypersonic missile threats.

During the company’s recent earnings call, Rocket Lab highlighted national security and defense programs as a major long-term growth engine. CEO Peter Beck said Rocket Lab is now positioned “in the center of America’s defense architecture for the next big wave of spending” as hypersonic defense, missile tracking and orbital defense programs accelerate.

The company said its Haste hypersonic launch vehicle, satellite infrastructure and vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities are aligned with Pentagon priorities for Golden Dome and broader space military initiatives.

Rocket Lab also highlighted a growing national security backlog, including a $190 million Haste launch agreement and multiple Neutron launch contracts. CFO Adam Spice said Rocket Lab’s vertically integrated manufacturing model could become a major advantage as Golden Dome-related spending ramps up.

“We’ll be able to do things in time frames and cost points that we think few, if any, people will really be able to compete with,” Spice said during the earnings call. The company recently reported record quarterly revenue of $200.3 million, alongside a backlog exceeding $2.2 billion.

ASTS Targets Military Satellite Growth

AST SpaceMobile also gained momentum after the company discussed increasing defense and government opportunities from Golden Dome initiatives during its latest earnings call.

The company is pursuing both communications and non-communications defense applications, including secure military communications, tactical satellite systems and space-based radar capabilities. “There’s been a real strong uptick, as expected, in the Space Force budget and in allocations related to Golden Dome,” AST SpaceMobile President Scott Wisniewski said during the call.

AST SpaceMobile additionally said that its massive phased-array satellite tech could support both commercial broadband and defense applications. “We’re currently deploying the largest ever phased arrays in low Earth orbit,” Wisniewski added.

AST plans to deploy 45 BlueBird satellites by the end of the year, while scaling manufacturing capacity toward six satellites per month. The company also said it currently holds $3.5 billion in cash to support the deployment of more than 100 BlueBird satellites globally.

How Do Retail Traders Feel About ASTS And RKLB?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward ASTS was ‘bullish’ while sentiment toward RKLB was ‘extremely bullish,’ with both stocks seeing ‘extremely high’ message volume. 

Over the past year, ASTS shares have surged 169%, while RKLB has skyrocketed 453%. 

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