Startup takes on space-based missile defense — with its own cash

WASHINGTON — Apex, a Los Angeles-based satellite manufacturing startup, is investing its own capital to demonstrate it can build and deploy interceptors in space for Golden Dome, a planned missile defense system directed by President Trump.

The company on Oct. 22 revealed plans to launch a demonstration mission in June 2026 to prove it can design and operate the kind of orbital weapons the Trump administration says will be needed to protect the nation. By pursuing the project without government funding, Apex hopes to show that ambitious defense capabilities can move on commercial timelines, outside of traditional government procurement channels.

“This is going to be something that is critically important for the U.S. and our allies,” Ian Cinnamon, Apex’s CEO and co-founder, told SpaceNe