[DigitalToday Seung-ah Yoo, intern reporter] NATO has formalised plans to build a shared satellite network to strengthen military communications, surveillance and missile tracking.

TechRadar, an IT media outlet, reported on Sunday that NATO recently unveiled the HALO concept at a NATO summit defence industry forum in Ankara, Turkey.

HALO is a project that stands for space-based hybrid allied multi-layer operations. Eight member states are participating: Denmark, Canada, Finland, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Turkey. The core is to link satellite systems that each country has operated separately into a single space framework. Participating countries chose to connect data while retaining ownership and control of their satellites.

NATO believes existing satellite networks dispersed by country are not enough to respond to wartime conditions. Satellite constellations operated independently by member states could be vulnerable to cyber attacks, jamming and physical destruction. NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska (Radmila Šekerinska) pointed out that such fragmented systems are also too slow to transmit large volumes of data effectively.

Shekerinska said HALO would be "particularly helpful for high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking" and aims to overcome cost, time and coverage limits of a single-country satellite constellation. She added, "It opens a new chapter in allied space operations."

The initiative differs from creating a new shared satellite constellation controlled by a single country. NATO aims to raise interoperability for allied operations by bundling existing national capabilities. As a result, HALO's success depends on whether different national systems can share data securely while maintaining sovereign control.

HALO remains at an exploratory stage. The final constellation design, deployment schedule and the number of satellites have not been decided. NATO has presented the direction for shared space infrastructure, but work remains to turn it into an operational system.

The announcement also ties into NATO's broader push to strengthen space infrastructure. Canada joined as the 15th member of STARLIFT, a multinational programme reviewing launch capabilities to quickly put alliance assets into orbit. The programme focuses on widening options to launch satellites within a short period by using spaceports across the alliance.

Spain became the 19th participant in NATO's space-based persistent surveillance concept. Spain decided to support coastal surveillance by using imagery provided by Atlantic Constellation satellites. Turkey also outlined plans to develop two additional high-resolution satellites to expand regional space capabilities.

NATO member states are expanding their space strategy by running shared networks alongside national systems. HALO is expected to be a testbed at the centre of efforts to change allied communications speed and information-sharing structures.