Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat says it is ramping up its investment in its Lightspeed low Earth orbiting fleet and helped by C$2 billion (€1.3bn) of funds coming from Canadian government and provincial sources. Lightspeed, an initial 156-craft fleet and which could be extended by an extra 100 craft, is costed at C$3.5 billion. Telesat says […]

Telesat of Canada – six years since the company was granted FCC permission to access the US market on the basis that 50 per cent of its 117-satellite constellation would be in orbit – is asking for a further delay of four and a half years. The FCC issued its initial Order permitting Telesat to […]

Lightspeed is the 198 craft broadband-by-satellite scheme from Telesat of Canada. The company has outlined what it sees as the system’s key advantages, not least flying higher than the “congested” lower Earth orbits of rivals. Lightspeed has been in the planning and quotation stage for a couple of years but back in August Telesat confirmed […]

Tim Farrar of TMA Associates, a commentator on the satellite industry, has raised concerns about the “optical crosslinks” or laser beams that operate between satellites. Optical crosslinks between satellites can drastically increase the constellation’s capability to transmit data to ground stations with reduced latency and increased total throughput. Satellites no longer have to wait to […]

Ottawa-based Telesat’s recent announcement that it had awarded a 198-craft order with fellow Canadian satellite builder MDA caused considerable surprise with the former Prime Contractor and favoured supplier Thales Alenia Space. By any measure, Telesat’s challenges with the Lightspeed constellation over the past few years has been to overcome some major bumps in the road, […]

Ottawa-based satellite operator Telesat has awarded the long-awaited prime contract for its Lightspeed 198 craft mega-constellation to MDA. Deployment will start in 2026. “By leveraging key technology advances, the redesigned enterprise-class network will achieve increased network efficiencies and enhanced flexibility to focus capacity – at dramatically reduced costs. Additionally, Telesat Lightspeed fully funded through global […]

Comments from satellite builder Thales Group’s chief Executive Patrice Caine suggests that Canada-based Telesat’s potential contract for its $5 billion (€4.5bn) order for a fleet of 198 low Earth orbiting satellites is still very much active. The comments come because Telesat has been slow to confirm any sort of order and has taken some considerable […]

Telesat has announced a contract award to Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) of Toronto, Canada to manufacture a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) demonstration satellite. The demonstration satellite, named LEO 3, will provide continuity for customer and ecosystem vendor testing campaigns following the decommissioning of Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite. Once successfully launched and on-station, LEO 3 […]

Canada-based satellite operator Telesat, which operates the Anik, Nimiq and Telstar satellites, failed to give investors or analysts any good news on its proposed $5 billion Lightspeed low Earth orbiting broadband fleet. In fact, the news was depressing given the frequent past promises and assurances that all was well with the project. Telesat President/CEO Dan […]

Canada-based space technology business MDA reported “strong top-line” growth for Q3 2022, with revenues at C$172 million (€125.6m), up 55 per cent y-o-y. Profitability was solid with EBITDA of C$38.8 million (up 22 per cent y-o-y). Perhaps even more importantly, the company’s backlog is up a very healthy 70 per cent to C$1.4 billion, an […]