True Anomaly, a Colorado-based startup developing space interceptors for the Trump administration’s ambitious “Golden Dome” space-based missile defense system, announced on Tuesday that it has completed $650 million in financing. The four-year-old company is currently valued at US$2.2 billion and has raised a total of US$1 billion in funding. True Anomaly plans to use the funds for business expansion and nearly double its headcount from current levels to 500 by the end of the year.

“Space has become a warfighting domain, and our adversaries are building space warfighting capabilities at an unprecedented scale,” company CEO Even Rogers told CNBC.

The global space race continues to heat up, and private space companies are benefiting from investor enthusiasm for the long-awaited listing of Elon Musk's SpaceX. Startups Vast and Sierra Space have both recently completed financing of $500 million or more.

At the same time, the U.S. government has sent astronauts back to the moon for the first time in nearly half a century through the "Artemis" program and continues to invest in space security.

Amid geopolitical tensions, the demand for defense equipment has surged, creating huge opportunities for space companies, especially those manufacturers of satellites and equipment that can track and intercept missiles at close range. The Trump administration is planning a $185 billion ballistic missile interception system, known as the "Golden Dome," and has proposed increasing the defense budget to $1.5 trillion by 2027.

SpaceX’s “Starlink” is the world’s largest satellite manufacturer, and its “Starshield” business line is specially built for military and government customers. Other competitors include defense technology contractors and Amazon, which is expanding into space through its former Project Kuiper, now known as Leo.

Space interceptor is True Anomaly’s new business direction. The company is also developing an autonomous orbiting satellite called “Jackal” and an autonomous software platform called “Mosaic”. True Anomaly was selected for the U.S. Space Force's "Golden Dome" missile defense interceptor project along with 12 companies including Anduril and SpaceX, winning a contract of up to US$3.2 billion.

True Anomaly also plans to use the financing for new product launches and large-scale factory expansion: the factory area will expand from 140,000 square feet to 2 million square feet over the next four years.

This round of financing was led by Eclipse and Riot Ventures.