LEO 3 deployed solar arrays and passed initial health checks after launch.
Telesat has not specified where it will resume testing terminals and modems with vendors once LEO 3 becomes operational.
LEO 3 was built by the Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) for Telesat.
Telesat’s LEO 3 demonstration satellite will provide continuity for customer and ecosystem vendor testing campaigns following decommissioning of Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite.
Telesat’s LEO 3 demonstration satellite will support low-latency customer applications testing and LEO antenna and modem development efforts in advance of the Telesat Lightspeed network deployment.
Space Flight Laboratory and Telesat are testing the full LEO 3 satellite following initial commissioning steps.
Space Flight Laboratory achieved signal acquisition, solar array deployment, and successful initial satellite health tests for LEO 3.
Ground control established communications with LEO 3 shortly after launch.
The payload on Telesat’s LEO 3 satellite uses a flexible bent-pipe architecture with Ka- and V-band uplinks and downlinking on either Ka- or Q-band.
Telesat’s LEO 3 demonstration satellite was launched on 18 July.
The LEO 3 demonstration satellite payload features a flexible bent-pipe architecture with Ka-band and V-band uplinks and downlinking on either Ka-band or Q-band.
Telesat’s LEO 3 was launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket.
The demonstration used a network architecture that allowed soldiers to connect Telesat’s LEO 3 satellite through Cobham antennas.
Telesat is conducting demonstrations for potential Lightspeed government and enterprise customers with a prototype called LEO 3 that Rocket Lab launched last year.
Rocket Lab won a contract on 2023-05-31 to launch LEO 3 on an Electron rocket in the third quarter of 2023.
Space Flight Laboratory integrated a communications payload for the 30-kilogram LEO 3 satellite and completed vibration and electromagnetic compatibility tests.
Telesat originally ordered LEO 3 in August 2021.
Space Flight Laboratory selected Rocket Lab to deliver the LEO 3 satellite to space on an accelerated timeline within four months of contract signing.
The launch of LEO 3 for Telesat and Space Flight Laboratory follows the successful deployment of three satellites built by Space Flight Laboratory for HawkEye 360 on an Electron mission in January 2023.
Once deployed to orbit, LEO 3 will operate under an existing ITU network filing for Telesat Lightspeed.