Canada's Telesat says MDA to build 198 satellites for C$2.1 bln

MDA Space

11/08/2023 11:15

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Satellite operator Telesat  TSAT.TO 
said on Friday that space technology company MDA Ltd  MDA.TO 
would build 198 advanced satellites for the company's Lightspeed
low earth orbit (LEO) program for C$2.1 billion ($1.56 billion).
    Telesat said it had earmarked $3.5 billion as capital
expenditure for the Lightspeed project and that the MDA deal had
helped it save $2 billion.
    The launches are scheduled to commence in mid-2026, with
polar and global services scheduled to begin in late 2027.
    By using MDA's beam-forming array antennas and integrated
regenerative processor, the re-designed Telesat Lightspeed
network will achieve increased network efficiency and enhanced
flexibility to focus and deliver capacity to users, the company
said in a statement.
    The technology would also allow each satellite to be
slightly smaller than the ones Telesat was previously
considering.
    Telesat's Lightspeed network is designed to serve the
connectivity requirements of enterprise and government users,
with highly secure, resilient, low-latency broadband
connectivity anywhere in the world.
    The company launched its first LEO 3 demonstration satellite
aboard Rocket Lab's Electron rocket in July.
 
 ($1 = 1.3449 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by Samrhitha Arunasalam in Bengaluru and Denny
Thomas in Toronto; Editing by Savio D'Souza)
 ((Samrhitha.A@thomsonreuters.com))