A next-generation Saucer-Class ISR Platform engineered by OrbitalX in joint mission with Infinity Space, combining resilient, mission-ready engineering with advanced metamaterial research for defence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
HALO represents a new generation of spacecraft engineering. Developed jointly by OrbitalX and Infinity Space, the Saucer-Class ISR Platform form factor is engineered to improve manoeuvrability, maximise structural efficiency, and seamlessly integrate advanced metamaterial technologies — delivering innovative defence solutions trusted by government and defence partners.
A pioneering Saucer-Class ISR Platform engineered for defence, surveillance, and reconnaissance — combining structural efficiency, agile manoeuvrability, and advanced metamaterial integration.
The saucer form factor delivers improved attitude control authority and rapid re-orientation — outperforming conventional rectangular satellite geometries in agility and mission tempo.
HALO integrates advanced metamaterial layers across its outer surface, enabling next-generation sensing, signal manipulation, and electromagnetic behaviours unattainable with conventional spacecraft skins.
Engineered from inception for surveillance and reconnaissance — resilient, mission-ready, and aligned with the operational requirements of UK government and allied defence partners.
HALO is delivered as a joint mission between OrbitalX, the platform integrator, and Infinity Space, the sovereign space-systems specialist.
OrbitalX brings deep expertise in Saucer-Class ISR Platform architecture and metamaterial integration, while Infinity Space contributes its proven heritage in flight-ready quantum systems, secure communications, and trusted-node mission infrastructure. Together, the two organisations deliver a single, sovereign capability optimised for UK government and allied defence customers.
The saucer geometry distributes structural loads radially, producing a stiffer, lighter, and more thermally balanced spacecraft than conventional rectangular buses.
Reaction wheels and control moment gyros are positioned for optimal authority around all three axes, delivering exceptional pointing agility for tactical reconnaissance and rapid re-tasking. The disc profile also enables more efficient solar coverage during orbital manoeuvres, sustaining higher peak power for sensor-intensive operations.
HALO's outer surface is more than skin — it is an active engineering layer.
OrbitalX's research into metamaterials enables surfaces that can selectively reflect, absorb, or steer electromagnetic energy — opening capabilities across reconnaissance, low-observable design, and advanced sensing. Integrated directly into HALO's disc form, these materials transform the satellite skin into a functional element of the mission payload itself.
A pioneering Saucer-Class ISR Platform developed by OrbitalX in joint mission with Infinity Space. Engineered for manoeuvrability, structural efficiency, and seamless integration of advanced metamaterial subsystems — purpose-built for sovereign defence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
HALO rethinks the shape of a spacecraft. Developed by OrbitalX in joint mission with Infinity Space, its disc form and metamaterial surface turn the structure itself into part of the mission.
A radial composite frame spreads structural loads evenly from the centre outward, producing a stiffer, lighter and more thermally balanced spacecraft than a conventional rectangular bus.
Reaction wheels and control moment gyros positioned for authority around all three axes allow rapid re-orientation and tracking accuracy better than 0.1° for tactical reconnaissance.
Metamaterial layers across the outer surface can selectively reflect, absorb or steer electromagnetic energy, supporting advanced sensing, signal manipulation and low-observable design.
Sensor-intensive intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data is gathered over the target and delivered to the ground segment for UK government and allied defence customers.
Most satellites are still built around the box. HALO asks what becomes possible when geometry and materials are designed around the mission instead.
In reconnaissance, the time taken to slew from one target to the next limits how much a spacecraft can collect on each pass. The disc geometry improves attitude control authority, so HALO can re-task and re-point quickly, increasing the number of targets it can observe and responding faster to emerging requirements.
A radial frame that is stiffer and lighter leaves more of the mass budget for payload. The disc profile also allows more efficient solar coverage during manoeuvres, sustaining higher peak power for sensors that demand it, which matters most when a platform is working hardest.
On a conventional satellite the skin is passive structure. HALO's metamaterial surface is an active engineering layer that can shape how electromagnetic energy interacts with the spacecraft, opening new options in reconnaissance, sensing and low-observable design that conventional spacecraft skins cannot offer.
HALO combines OrbitalX's expertise in saucer-class architecture and metamaterial integration with Infinity Space's heritage in flight-ready quantum systems, secure communications and trusted-node mission infrastructure, delivering a single sovereign capability aligned with UK government and allied defence requirements.
HALO signals where UK defence space engineering is heading: platforms shaped around their mission, where structure, surface and sensing work as one, developed through a partnership between OrbitalX and Infinity Space, a UK-based space company.
HALO represents UK leadership in next-generation defence space platforms — a pioneering Saucer-Class ISR Platform engineered to outperform conventional geometries in manoeuvrability, structural efficiency, and the integration of advanced metamaterial technologies.
