Telesat is actively preparing to launch its Lightspeed pathfinders in December 2026. According to Dan Goldberg, the company’s CEO, the launch of 96 satellites for an initial global broadband service from low Earth orbit (LEO) is planned for the following year. This move aims to counteract the growing declines in their geostationary (GEO) business.
Speaking on November 4 during the company’s earnings results for the three months ending September 30, Goldberg stated that he anticipates SpaceX to commence serial launches for the constellation within two to four months after the pathfinders are deployed for network testing and validation. “It’s more confirmatory in nature,” Goldberg said, adding, “We’re expecting to confirm the findings of the testing that we’ve done on the ground once the birds are up in space.”
In 2023, Telesat contracted 14 launches with SpaceX, initially scheduled to begin in mid-2026. The purpose was to deploy the 198 satellites ordered from MDA Space of Canada within a year. Each Falcon 9 rocket can carry up to 18 of these 750-kilogram satellites, depending on the specific orbital plane.
Goldberg projects that Telesat will have 156 satellites in LEO by the end of 2027, "a couple of months" after reaching the 96-satellite milestone. This increase in satellite numbers is expected to improve capacity density and look angles, enabling the company to offer more stringent Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The complete 198-satellite constellation is designed to provide approximately 10 terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity for business and government users, enhancing network resilience.
Telesat serves as the anchor customer for MDA’s reprogrammable Aurora platform, which successfully completed its preliminary design review in late 2023. The deployment of international ground infrastructure, essential for Lightspeed to relay traffic through its inter-satellite links, is also progressing as planned.
Furthermore, on November 4, the company announced a $5 million investment in Farcast, a San Francisco-based startup developing an enterprise-class, flat panel antenna (FPA) user terminal compatible with Lightspeed. CAES is developing an aeronautical FPA for Lightspeed, while Intellian focuses on FPAs and dual parabolic antennas.
In terms of financial performance, Telesat reported 101 million Canadian dollars ($71.6 million) in revenue for the three months ending September, a 27% decrease year-over-year. This decline is primarily attributed to a lower rate on the renewal of a geostationary capacity contract with Dish Network, a U.S. satellite broadcaster. Adjusted EBITDA fell by 51% to 47 million Canadian dollars. The company's revenue backlog for its geostationary business stands at 900 million Canadian dollars, compared to 1.1 billion Canadian dollars for Lightspeed.
Concurrently, Amazon began deploying its Project Kuiper LEO broadband network in April to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink, currently the largest constellation globally with over 8,500 satellites. Although only 153 of the planned 3,200+ Kuiper satellites have been launched, Analysys Mason analysts estimate that its total downlink capacity has already exceeded the 3.6 terabits per second offered by Eutelsat’s OneWeb LEO system.