For more than 60 years, the military has launched reconnaissance, communications, and missile warning satellites into orbit. Trump's executive order calls for the Pentagon to come up with a design architecture, requirements, and an implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield within 60 days.

Trump's order establishing an Iron Dome for America includes a wider focus to defend the homeland from air and missile attacks from peer adversaries.

Such defense systems are extremely costly” with “their effectiveness often being questionable,” one expert said.