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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Ka2517 antennas were successfully tested on Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite, validating LEO satellite tracking, extremely high spectral efficiencies, and ultra-low latency of 20–40 milliseconds.
Based on ThinKom Ka2517 antenna performance and Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO network, uplink speeds are expected to reach up to 200 Mbps to a single aircraft.
Anuvu’s constellation is part of a multi-orbit strategy that will add low Earth orbit capacity in 2024 from satellites Telesat is developing.
To achieve the target run rate revenue, Telesat must grow its annual data revenues, currently at $300 million, by approximately 8 times.
Telesat Lightspeed will consist of 298 crosslinked next-gen satellites and an advanced ground infrastructure.
Telesat has not yet started full satellite construction and could be over 2 years later to market than competitors like OneWeb and O3b mPOWER.
Commercial service for Telesat Lightspeed is expected to commence in 2024.
OneWeb and O3b mPOWER are both targeting similar enterprise customers as Telesat.
Telesat Lightspeed will create a highly secure, global mesh network mainly serving enterprise and B2B markets including carriers, MNOs, and customers in aero, maritime, and government.
Telesat has global distribution and a revenue base exceeding $600 million generating high EBITDA margins and significant free cash flows.
Telesat has a pre-existing satcom business with established customers and regulatory standing.
The first Telesat Lightspeed satellite launches are planned for late 2023.
Telesat faces significant challenges including securing financing, keeping the Lightspeed program on-budget and on-schedule, and driving revenues from broadband SATCOM markets.
Telesat is projected to need to generate run rate revenue of $2.5 billion to realize a return on investment aligned with a hurdle rate of 10-12%.
Telesat has secured about 1 billion Canadian dollars in funding support for Lightspeed from the federal government of Canada and Quebec’s provincial government.
Telesat raised $500,000,000 in debt in April to help fund the Lightspeed project.
Telesat has a deadline of 2025-03-31 to clear certain C-band spectrum.
SatixFy entered a deal with Canadian satellite operator Telesat to gain early access to modem chips that can support beam hopping for Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO constellation.
The tests used an 0.85 m Intellian parabolic antenna to uplink and downlink to Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite.
Telesat intends to begin launching Telesat Lightspeed production satellites in approximately two years, and the Phase 1 LEO satellite is being used to demonstrate application performance ahead of the full Telesat Lightspeed network.