Golden Dome and SPACECOM in limbo as Huntsville waits on Washington

They threw a three-part party near the end of the second day of the Space & Missile Defense Symposium on Wednesday at the Von Braun Center.

First up was a combined Salute to the Warfighter and Oath of Enlisted Ceremony, complete with a champagne toast shared by the families of new enlistees and Army, Air Force, and Navy brass. The festivities continued in the South Hall with an invitation-only VIP Reception, before moving to the banquet rooms for the Davidson Award Dinner.

But even with a record-breaking 7,300 attendees and 300 companies hosting exhibitions, a pall hung over the event — at least for reporters. The most anticipated topic of the 28th annual symposium, the proposed multi-billion-dollar Golden Dome missile shield, had been pulled from the agenda by Pete Hegseth’s Department of Defense.

His office ordered Golden Dome pulled from the lineup, and advised government workers to be tight-lipped. The gag order seeped into the broader symposium, with company representatives treading carefully.

Public Affairs Specialist Ryan Keith of Missile Defense Agency (MDA) confirmed to the Huntsville Business Journal the “Golden Dome for American Industry Summit,’’ which morphed from Iron Dome to Next Generation to its current name, will proceed today but is closed to the public and press as part of DoD’s ongoing battle against leaks.

The event, which will conclude the conference, is sponsored by MDA, an agency not affiliated with the SMD Symposium – Defending America at Home and Abroad. Attendance is limited to government employees and contractors.

As the conference got underway earlier in the week, an SMD Symposium spokesman told Politico, “A lot of [attendees] are coming this year because of Golden Dome. Unfortunately, last week, [the Defense Secretary’s office] came out and said they don’t want us talking about Golden Dome during the symposium.”

Also of high local interest is U.S. Space Command (SPACECOM) and its ultimate destination. While it was addressed on Tuesday, there was still no definitive answer on whether it will remain in Colorado Springs or move to Huntsville.

Alabama’s congressional brigade have insisted for months that SPACECOM is coming to the Rocket City, but a final decision has yet to be announced.

Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, Commander of SPACECOM, updated the readiness of space forces and discussed why it’s important. He didn’t address the battle for the command headquarters.

“At U.S. Space Command,’’ Whiting said, “our guiding principle is clear. To secure peace, we must be well-prepared for conflict in space. And if deterrence fails, we will fight and win. We uphold this principle in the face of expanding operational threats, which are being fielded deliberately and specifically to challenge our collective security. This is no exaggeration. The tenets of international space stability that have made us all more secure and prosperous during the space age are at risk.’’

Late Wednesday afternoon, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle watched as attendees filed past in a hallway of the VBC on their way to the South Hall shindig. He said that as Huntsville’s business community continues to grow, particularly on Redstone Arsenal, all his administration can do is mark time and be ready, whether that means preparing for SPACECOM’s possible transfer to Huntsville or determining how much input local and regional companies will have on Golden Dome.

“We’re all in a wait-and-see situation,’’ he said. “The word will come out of Washington, so we’re waiting on that word to come.’’