Telesat Puts $3 Billion Toward Building 300-Satellite LEO Fleet By 2024

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Canada’s Telesat announced it has entered into a $3 billion deal with European manufacturer Thales Alenia Space to build a fleet of nearly 300 low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The Ottawa Business Journal reported that the project paves the way for Telesat “to deliver high-speed internet to the farthest reaches of the globe.”

“Demand for broadband connectivity is surging around the world,” Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg announced during a virtual news conference on Tuesday. “We needed to bring a network to the market that was much more capable to meet our customers’ requirements.”

Telesat, which has plans to go public in the summer, aims to launch a constellation of 298 LEO satellites (called “Lightspeed”) into space before the end of 2024. The satellites will be stationed between 621 and 807 miles above Earth and promise to deliver broadband speeds comparable to fiber-optic networks, but they won’t offer service directly to customers. Instead, Lightspeed will provide backhaul connections to internet service providers, airlines, cruise ships, and more, who will use the signals across their networks, reported the Business Journal.

Although Telesat is behind the eight ball compared to competitors like SpaceX, Goldberg is not deterred. He’s confident the Ottawa company will quickly make up for lost time.

“We feel good about when we’ll be coming to market,” Goldberg said. He added that Telesat’s solution would provide “a vast competitive advantage for the enterprise segments relative to anything else that’s going to be out there.” 

Telesat expects the deal with Thales Alenia Space to be finalized before the company goes public. Goldberg noted that the company is currently securing financing and raising capital through its IPO.

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