Like a cursed spell, space-based missile defense keeps getting resurrected — no matter how many times it’s been banished. President Trump’s Executive Order, The Iron Dome for America, released Jan. 27, 2025, orders the Department of Defense to develop and deploy a “next-generation missile defense shield” — a system that would include space-based interceptors (SBI) to defend against ballistic missiles in their boost phase. Space-based missile defense was a key part of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative and has resurfaced intermittently ever since. Once again, the United States is dreaming that it can shield itself from nuclear-armed missiles with…