WASHINGTON ― Eight NATO countries plan to link their military satellites into a “mega-constellation” to enable “high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking,” the alliance announced on Tuesday at its Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, in a move that joins a number of other a new initiatives aimed at improving NATO space capabilities.
Connecting multiple national satellites will “overcome the cost, time and coverage limitations of single-nation satellite fleets,” a NATO press release said.
The new network, called the Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space (HALO), initially will involve Denmark, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey, a NATO official told Breaking Defense today.
“But we expect more to come,” the official added, explaining that NATO is “in the early stages of the initiative.”
HALO “focuses on the procurement of both transport satellites and sensors, as well as the development of software and standards,” the NATO official said. It is “primarily designed to address national needs; what the constellation architecture will be and how it will be funded will be determined as the project unfolds,” the NATO official added.
The plan echoes the US Space Force’s fledgling effort to create a Space Data Network that will use SpaceX Starshield satellites — the secretive military variant of the firm’s Starlink constellation — as a data transport backbone to connect a variety of mission-specific constellations. The initial focus of the US plan is to support the Trump administration’s ambitious Golden Dome air and missile defense shield.
In addition, the NATO release noted that Spain became the 19th member of Allied Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS) program during the Ankara summit.
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APSS, created in 2023 and formally integrated into NATO in 2024, includes a”virtual” intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) constellation, called Aquila that initially involved 17 allies. Member nations also have pledged to jointly fund commercial imagery and ISR products such as 3D maps.
APSS is supported by the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), which provides program management, digital infrastructure, data integration and a user interface for allies. Data collected from the network further is funneled into NATO Headquarters via the NATO Intelligence Enterprise. APSS achieved initial operational capability last December.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska further announced during the Ankara summit, according to media reports, that APSS member Turkey is building two new high-resolution ISR satellites that will contribute to the network under contracts worth more than $300 million with TUBITAK, Turkey’s Space Technology and Research Institute.
The two new satellites are follow-ons to Ankara’s IMECE remote sensing satellite, also built by TUBITAK. IMECE, launched in 2023, entered service with the Turkish Air Force in May 2025.
Finally, the NATO press release stated that Canada became the 15th member of NATO’s Starlift multinational initiative, “which explores ways to develop a network of launch capabilities that will help Allies launch assets at short notice from spaceports across the Alliance. This will boost NATO’s ability to react more quickly to threats from space.”
Starlift was launched in October 2024 by 14 allies: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.