Malta Station

"Cortana"

Malta Station, hull classification symbol ODP-143, was an UNSC Orbital defense platform in Earth orbit. It was in the same battle cluster as Athens Station and Cairo Station.

During the Battle of Earth, the station was destroyed by a antimatter charge placed by Covenant boarders. Unaware of the invader's true intent, the withdrawal of the boarders was misinterpreted by some of the station's crew members as a full retreat by the Covenant.

The destruction of Malta occurred shortly before that of Athens, allowing the Solemn Penance to break through the orbital defenses to the surface of Earth. It is assumed that all hands on board were lost when the bomb exploded, destroying the pressurized environment.

The wreckage of the Malta formed a debris field, which was shattered when the Prophet of Regret's assault carrier flew through it.

Trivia
Based on the name of the station, it has been theorized that it held geosynchronous orbit over Malta. By the looks of the station's location through the Cairo Station's windows, however, it appears to be much further south than Malta really is. Additionally, the Cairo, Athens and Malta stations are in visible distances of one another whereas their Earth namesakes are hundreds of kilometers apart, enough that the curvature of the earth blocks direct line-of-sight between them.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2