National and international space defence policies are continually evolving, and at the recently concluded 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, Türkiye, the alliance’s ‘Approach to Space’ was updated. This includes the announcement of the Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space (HALO) mega-constellation concept, which includes Canada.
In fact, Canada was also part of two other key space-related announcements.
Until the Summit, Canada was assessing the STARLIFT project but is now officially onboard bringing the total to 15 participating NATO Allies: Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States. The STARLIFT project is part of NATO’s strategy for responsive, short-notice space launches from a participating member’s spaceport.
Related to launch, the other key item is that Germany’s Isar Aerospace has signed a US$112.5 million contract with Maritime Launch Services (MLS) for a dedicated launch pad at Spaceport Nova Scotia, as we previously reported.
Evolving space policy, new programs
NATO’s approach to the space domain has undergone a significant operational restructuring over the past three years. Here are the key initiatives.
2024: Establishing command and virtual networks
In 2024, NATO shifted gears to better organize its space assets, focusing heavily on centralizing command and pooling what member nations already had in orbit.
An important step was the rollout of the Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS) program. Created in 2023, APSS acts as a “virtual” intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) constellation called Aquila. It started with 17 allies—including Canada—and essentially blends commercial and military satellite data to give NATO a single, unified view of the battlefield.
Additionally, in October 2024, 14 member states launched STARLIFT.
2025: Expanding commercial integration
Throughout 2025, NATO worked to bridge the gap between military planners and the commercial space industry. Recognizing that modern, proliferated low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations offer resilience that legacy military systems simply can’t match, the alliance leaned heavily into integrating dual-use technologies.
This meant a much stronger reliance on commercial and national programs. An example is Türkiye’s high-resolution IMECE remote sensing satellite. Built by TUBITAK (Türkiye’s Space Technology Research Institute), it officially went active with the Turkish Air Force in May 2025. This entire period was about plugging national security architectures into commercial space networks—proving that private capital can effectively support allied supply chains.
2026: HALO, Canada and hardware commitments
The transition toward shared orbital hardware took centre stage on July 7, 2026, during the Ankara Summit. NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska announced several initiatives that shift the alliance’s focus toward physical, multinational constellations..
The primary announcement was the Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space (HALO). Eight nations—Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Türkiye—have agreed to link their military satellites into a “mega-constellation.” HALO will focus on the procurement of transport satellites and sensors, as well as shared software standards, to enable high-speed communications and missile tracking while overcoming the coverage limitations of single-nation fleets. Notably absent from the initial member list is France, the United Kingdom and United States. Each of these nations are already involved in larger constellations such as OneWeb and Starshield.
Addressing the limitations of current systems, Shekerinska noted that individual constellations are “highly vulnerable to targeted cyber-attacks, to jamming or physical destruction, while also being too slow to relay large amounts of data on their own.” She explained that HALO will remedy this, serving as a new model that will be “particularly helpful for high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking, overcoming the cost, the time and coverage limitations of single-nation satellite fleets.”
Beyond HALO, this year also saw Spain join APSS as the 19th member nation. Additionally, it was announced that Türkiye is building two new high-resolution ISR satellites to contribute to the APSS network under contracts with TUBITAK valued at more than US$300 million.
And as we discussed earlier, Canada officially joined STARLIFT, and MLS has another anchor customer in Isar Aerospace for Spaceport Nova Scotia.