Türkiye takes central role in NATO’s mega constellation satellite project

Space projects were high on the agenda at the two-day NATO Ankara Summit this week, where officials announced that Türkiye’s Imece satellites and Turkish defense firm Aselsan’s low-Earth orbit network will play a central role in the alliance’s new space architecture.

Leaders announced $4.012 billion in space and surveillance projects highlighted by the Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space, or HALO, initiative at the Defense Industry Forum, part of the summit held Tuesday and Wednesday in the Turkish capital.

The HALO initiative aims to integrate the military satellites of Türkiye, Germany, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, and Norway into a unified, mega constellation structure, which is expected to overcome the cost, time, and coverage limitations that single-nation satellite fleets are known for.

The integrated design will equip NATO with enhanced capabilities for high-speed communications, intelligence gathering, and missile tracking.

Türkiye will contribute its engineering expertise by developing two new high-resolution satellites based on the Imece Earth observation satellite through the space division of the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Council’s (Tubitak), Tubitak Space.

The new satellites, Imece-2 and Imece-3, will be produced in Ankara under a contract worth more than $300 million.

The new additions will operate alongside the original Imece satellite and enable imaging of larger areas in a significantly reduced time, while reducing the interval between revisit cycles over critical regions.

The enhanced capability will enable the alliance to produce intelligence more quickly for crisis zones, border areas, maritime regions, military movements, and disaster response.

Türkiye’s first domestically developed sub-meter resolution Earth observation satellite, the original Imece, is currently active in the Turkish Air Force Command’s inventory under the name Gokturk-2B.

Türkiye also signed contracts worth more than $350 million with defense firm Aselsan to develop low-Earth orbit satellites, military communications networks, and early warning radar systems for the country’s multilayered air defense system, the Steel Dome.

The projects are expected to significantly improve Türkiye’s secure battlefield connectivity and early warning detection capabilities.

Ahmet Akyol, CEO of Aselsan, told Anadolu that the entrusting of his firm with the design of secure low-Earth orbit communications satellites is a massive sign of global trust in Türkiye’s engineering expertise.

Akyol stated that Aselsan will implement next-gen satellite networks to meet NATO’s key military and strategic communications needs.

NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska said Spain had joined the Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS) project and that the new Starlift Initiative aims to establish a rapid-response network for launching backup satellites during emergencies.