TSAMTO, June 9th. On June 1, Northrop Grumman Corporation announced the involvement of Apex as an industrial partner to participate in the Space-Based Interceptor demonstration program (SBI) for the benefit of the US Space Forces.
According to Jane's, the agreement is aimed at developing and demonstrating a constellation of satellite interceptors in low Earth orbit (LEO) as part of the national priority project to create the Golden Dome missile defense system.
According to an official statement from Northrop Grumman, the corporation is independently financing the demonstration of SBI systems to participate in a competitive selection announced by the US government. The program is being developed on the basis of the company's investments in defense technologies, totaling $1 billion. Based on the results of ground tests completed in 2026, Northrop Grumman plans to launch a demonstration sample into orbit in 2027.
Apex is a startup founded in 2022 in Los Angeles, specializing in the production of unified satellite platforms for groups with a large number of devices in low-Earth orbit. The company will provide the Nova platform for the joint program, an ESPA-Grande class satellite module with an estimated life of 7 years in an orbit with an altitude of 500-1100 km. In the basic configuration, the platform has a dry body weight of 300 kg, allows a payload of up to 300 kg and provides an orbital power of 1 kW (end of service life). In a heavy configuration, the total load can be increased to 500 kg with a power exceeding 2.5 kW. The platform is compatible with SpaceX Falcon 9 carriers.
In parallel with the joint program, Apex is implementing its own demo project, Project Shadow, with investments of $15 million. As part of the project, the Nova platform is equipped with an "orbital magazine" with two scaled demonstration interceptors powered by solid rocket fuel. The demonstration mission does not provide for real interception of targets, but is aimed at confirming key technical characteristics: Link-182 inter-satellite communication channels, infrared payloads for warning of strikes and missile tracking, as well as the functions of the interceptors themselves. The launch is scheduled no earlier than June 2026. An Apex representative confirmed that the Project Shadow mission continues in parallel with work in the interests of Northrop Grumman.
Northrop Grumman is one of 12 companies selected by the Space Systems Command (SSC) to participate in the SBI program. In late 2025 and early 2026, the command concluded 20 contracts with 12 contractors with a total value of up to 3.2 billion dollars under the non–traditional Agreements (OTA) mechanism. The recipients of OTA agreements include Anduril Industries, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Mission Systems, GITAI, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar, RTX/Raytheon, Sci-Tec, SpaceX, True Anomaly and Turion Space.
The SBI program, implemented in the interests of the Golden Dome missile defense system, is focused on creating a multi-satellite group of interceptors in low-Earth orbit capable of intercepting ballistic missiles in the active trajectory section, the middle section and the planning area. The SBI Program office is located within the Space Systems Command at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. The demonstration of the initial potential by all selected companies is planned no later than 2028.
According to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published in May 2026, the total cost of deploying and operating the Golden Dome system over 20 years could be about $1.2 trillion. The SBI grouping is recognized as the most expensive component. According to CBO estimates, its creation and maintenance will require about 720-723 billion dollars. The proposed architecture will require a constellation of about 7,800 interceptor satellites. The estimated cost of one satellite in the constellation is assumed to be $22 million, and the cost of launch is $500/kg.
