Telesat is a Canadian satellite communications company and operator, providing connectivity solutions to telecom, government, and enterprise clients globally. They are currently developing Telesat Lightspeed, a low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of 198 satellites designed for high-speed, low-latency broadband services. Telesat partners with companies like MDA Space, Orange, and Intellian for satellite manufacturing, terrestrial infrastructure, and user terminals. The company aims to begin launching satellites in 2026, with the constellation fully operational by 2027.
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The subcontract with L3Harris is a fixed-price deal for Maxar’s new workhorse PLEO bus, which is designed for proliferated low Earth orbit constellations and is based on an earlier design Maxar bid for the Telesat constellation.
Telesat was forced to retire its Anik F2 satellite from full service three years earlier than planned in 2023.
Telesat reduced the proposed Lightspeed constellation by one third to 198 satellites to stay within a $5,000,000,000 budget.
Telesat expects Anik F2 revenues to decline beginning in 2024 if the company cannot find alternative ways to support affected services.
Telesat originally expected to provide station-kept service from Anik F2 until 2025 but can now maintain station-kept service only until the end of 2023.
Telesat expects to lose around one third of Anik F2’s revenue in 2024 if mitigation techniques are unsuccessful.
Telesat has lined up about 4.2 billion Canadian dollars to fund Telesat Lightspeed from existing financial resources and Canadian government funding.
One of Telesat’s ITU filings for the Lightspeed project, relating to 72 satellites, requires 10% of the satellites in assigned orbits by 2023-01-01 and 50% by 2026-01-01.
Telesat plans to start deploying LEO satellites for its Lightspeed constellation in 2025.
Ofcom records show Telesat has not reached spectrum coordination agreements with other licensed non-geostationary satellite orbit operators in the United Kingdom.
Telesat has secured about $3,300,000,000 of the Lightspeed constellation’s anticipated $5,000,000,000 cost.
Telesat selected South Korean antenna maker Intellian on 2022-05-08 to design and supply dual-parabolic reference user terminals for the Lightspeed LEO constellation.
Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation will consist of 198 satellites with the first satellite scheduled to launch in the third quarter of 2025.
Telesat plans to start deploying the Lightspeed constellation to low Earth orbit in 2025.
Ofcom is due to announce a decision on Telesat’s request to connect user terminals under a non-geostationary satellite Earth station network license on 2022-09-12 following a public comment period.
Telesat downsized its original Lightspeed constellation plans by one third earlier in 2022 due to supply chain issues.
Telesat’s Phase 1 satellite was launched to low Earth orbit in January 2018.
Telesat has been using the Phase 1 satellite to help configure its delayed Lightspeed constellation.
Telesat demonstrated high-speed connectivity in India in April 2025 using its four-year-old Phase 1 prototype satellite.
Telesat postponed Lightspeed’s service debut by one year to 2026 due to supply chain issues.