Company Description
Helio Corporation (OTC: HLEO) is an industrials-sector company operating in the aerospace and defense industry with a strategic focus on space-based energy infrastructure. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Heliospace Corporation, Helio designs, engineers, assembles, and tests space flight–qualified hardware and provides systems engineering, modeling, analysis, integration, and test services for civil, government, commercial, and academic space missions. The company is headquartered in Berkeley, California and was founded in 2018.
Core Business and Space Engineering Expertise
Helio’s operating subsidiary Heliospace is described as an aerospace company specializing in hardware, systems engineering, and mission-critical services for space exploration. According to multiple company disclosures, Heliospace has supported NASA, other government agencies, commercial space companies, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions on projects ranging from small-scale initiatives to flagship missions. Its work includes space-qualified mechanisms, deployable systems, antennas, and sensors designed to operate in harsh space environments.
The company reports that its products have flown on missions spanning from the Sun to Jupiter. Examples highlighted in press releases include participation in NASA’s Europa Clipper mission via deployable radar antennas for the REASON instrument, and deployable mechanisms and sensors for the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) experiment on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander. These missions illustrate Helio’s role in supplying flight-proven hardware for high-profile science and exploration programs.
Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP) and “Power Plants in Space”
Beginning in early 2026, Helio announced a strategic initiative to develop and commercialize space-based solar power (SBSP) systems. The company describes these systems as “power plants in space” that capture solar energy beyond Earth’s atmosphere and beam it safely and efficiently to the surface. Its stated vision is to establish orbital energy platforms as a foundational layer of the global power grid, delivering uninterrupted, carbon-free electricity at scale.
Helio’s SBSP strategy focuses on positioning power-generation assets in orbit and transmitting energy to terrestrial receivers to provide baseload electricity that is not interrupted by weather, geography, or day-night cycles. Management communications describe this as an expansion into new addressable markets for high-reliability renewable energy generation using proprietary intellectual property and space systems expertise developed since the company’s founding.
Microwave Power Beaming Architecture
In outlining its SBSP approach, Helio states that its architecture is based on microwave power beaming. Company materials describe microwave transmission as a technically advantaged and commercially viable pathway for utility-scale, grid-connected SBSP compared to certain infrared laser concepts discussed in public media. According to Helio, microwave power transmission benefits from lower atmospheric attenuation, greater tolerance to weather variability, and more efficient ground reception, and is characterized as extensively studied and experimentally validated for long-distance wireless power transfer.
Helio connects these technical characteristics to potential advantages in system reliability, unit economics, safety, and regulatory feasibility for large-scale orbital energy infrastructure. The company positions this microwave-based architecture as a lower-risk pathway to commercialization for SBSP at utility scale.
Track Record with NASA and Global Space Agencies
Helio repeatedly emphasizes its history as “problem solvers to the space industry” and as a trusted partner to space agencies and organizations. Disclosures reference support for NASA missions such as Europa Clipper and the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, as well as work with the European Space Agency, Firefly Aerospace, Honeybee Robotics, universities, and other global space agencies. The company notes that its hardware has successfully operated on the lunar surface and in deep space, and that this flight heritage is intended to reduce technical and schedule risk for future programs.
Heliospace’s participation in missions like the LMS experiment on the Moon and the REASON radar on Europa Clipper is presented as evidence of its ability to design and deliver compact, deployable antennas, mechanisms, and sensors that meet demanding mission requirements. The company characterizes this experience as a foundation for its move into SBSP and other large-scale space infrastructure concepts.
Corporate Structure and Capital Markets Profile
Helio Corporation is incorporated in Florida and identifies itself as an emerging growth company in its SEC filings. It trades on the over-the-counter market under the symbol HLEO and reports that it has no securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act. Heliospace Corporation is described as a wholly owned subsidiary of Helio Corporation and functions as the primary operating entity for aerospace engineering and hardware activities.
SEC filings detail various financing arrangements, including promissory notes, convertible notes, and debt exchanges with founders and institutional investors. For example, the company has reported the issuance of unsecured promissory notes and a convertible promissory note to institutional investors, as well as the exchange of founder loans into common equity. These transactions are described as efforts to address indebtedness, strengthen the balance sheet, and support future financing initiatives. Certain filings also discuss notices of default and ongoing discussions with noteholders regarding potential modifications to outstanding obligations.
Strategic Direction and Investor Communications
In early 2026, Helio announced changes in leadership and a renewed strategic focus. The Board of Directors appointed a new Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and reassigned prior leadership to technology-focused roles such as Chief Technology Officer, Chief Science Officer, and Chief Engineer. Company statements link this management restructuring to a new strategic direction aimed at enhancing shareholder value, strengthening the capital structure, and pursuing financing initiatives aligned with long-term objectives.
Helio has also highlighted investor outreach as a strategic priority. It has announced a series of investor presentations in U.S. markets, participation in a conference for emerging growth companies, and plans to host earnings calls to review financial results and strategic priorities. The company characterizes these efforts as intended to improve transparency, alignment between corporate strategy and shareholder interests, and awareness of its SBSP and space infrastructure initiatives.
Mission Helio Utility Token Financing
As part of its capital strategy for SBSP, Helio has disclosed plans for an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of a proprietary utility token called Mission Helio. The company describes the Mission Helio token as designed solely for functional use within its ecosystem, including tiered participation, usage-based benefits, and support for infrastructure development and ecosystem expansion. It explicitly states that the token does not represent equity, ownership, profit-sharing rights, or any claim on Helio’s assets or earnings.
According to company communications, the planned token offering is intended as a non-dilutive financing mechanism to fund development and deployment of proprietary SBSP systems while avoiding additional equity issuance or traditional financing structures that the company views as highly dilutive. Helio characterizes this approach as an alternative capital-raising method that seeks to align capital formation with the build-out of regulated, asset-based renewable energy infrastructure.
Industry Context and Focus Areas
Within the aerospace and defense industry, Helio positions itself at the intersection of space engineering and energy infrastructure. Its historical activities center on civil space missions and commercial space hardware, while its more recent strategy extends into space-based renewable energy. Company statements indicate that initial commercial focus areas for SBSP are expected to include government and defense applications, remote and off-grid infrastructure, disaster response, and facilities requiring uninterrupted energy supply.
Across both its traditional aerospace work and its SBSP initiative, Helio emphasizes systems that support scientific exploration, mission-critical operations, and long-duration infrastructure in space. The company’s narrative links its engineering depth, flight heritage, and intellectual property portfolio to ambitions in orbital energy platforms and long-term revenue generation from space-based power systems.
Risk Considerations and Regulatory Filings
Helio’s SEC filings provide insight into its regulatory status and certain risks. The company has filed notifications of late filing for periodic reports, citing additional time needed by its independent registered public accounting firm to complete reviews. It has also disclosed triggering events related to nonpayment of secured promissory notes at maturity and has noted that it is evaluating its rights and obligations under those notes while engaging advisors to assess capital structure alternatives.
These filings underscore that Helio operates as an emerging growth, over-the-counter issuer with various debt obligations and financing arrangements. Investors reviewing HLEO stock typically consider both the company’s technical achievements and strategic initiatives, as well as its capital structure, indebtedness, and reporting history as reflected in its SEC documents.
Summary
Helio Corporation represents a combination of aerospace engineering capabilities and a stated ambition to develop space-based solar power as a new class of energy infrastructure. Through Heliospace, it has contributed hardware and systems to NASA and other missions, including lunar and deep-space programs. Building on that heritage, the company has announced a strategic expansion into orbital power platforms, a microwave-based SBSP architecture, and alternative financing mechanisms such as a utility token offering. Its over-the-counter listing, emerging growth status, and detailed SEC filings provide additional context for understanding HLEO as a micro-cap aerospace and energy-infrastructure concept stock.