The Golden Dome is a proposed multi-layer defense system for the United States, intended to detect and destroy various foreign threats—including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles—before their launch or during their flight. The system would employ a global constellation of satellites equipped with both sensors and space-based interceptors. The architecture has been viewed as similar to the Brilliant Pebbles concept of the 1980s. If implemented, it would mark the first time in history that space weapons are maintained in orbit.