The “SpaceX” CEO Elon Musk, the defense company “Anduril Industries” founder Palmer Luckey, and a former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich will lead a new Pentagon study — “Project Meridian”.
The project was presented by the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a speech at the Marine Corps base in Quantico on September 30, Axios reports.
According to him, the study should determine what the wars of the future will be like and what technologies and weapons the US needs to develop now.
"The work will focus on finding, developing and implementing weapons and systems that our children and grandchildren will need," Hegseth said.
Palmer Luckey said the team needs to think not only about the wars that are going on now, but also about conflicts that could arise in 2030, 2050, and even 2100, and determine what the United States needs to create today to prevent them.
The Pentagonʼs chief technology officer Emil Michael will also join the project. The groupʼs first meeting was scheduled for September 30. Hegset expects to have results within 120 days, some of which will be classified.
This is Muskʼs first official role on Donald Trumpʼs team since his public spat with the president last year. After Musk left the administration, the two had a public falling out, but later rekindled their relationship.
Meanwhile, “SpaceX” and “Anduril” already have major contracts with the Pentagon. Muskʼs company is one of the Pentagonʼs key contractors in the field of space launches, while “Anduril” supplies the US military with electronic warfare systems, interceptors, rocket engines and unmanned systems.
Why Musk left Trumpʼs team
Since January 2025, Elon Musk has headed the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose main goal was to reduce US government spending. In its first months of operation, this structure massively reduced federal agencies, slashed their budgets, or reoriented their work to the priorities of the US president.
One of DOGEʼs most high-profile initiatives is the closure of the USAID agency, which was the worldʼs largest donor. Ukraine also received assistance within the framework of USAID programs.
In May, Elon Musk reported that he was leaving government service. He and Trump subsequently clashed publicly: Musk sharply criticized the US presidentʼs tax and budget bill, saying it would significantly increase the national debt; Trump responded by criticizing Musk and threatening to cut off government contracts and subsidies for his companies.
At the end of November 2025, DOGE was completely liquidated in the US — eight months ahead of schedule.
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