Canadian satellite operator Telesat has received a significant C$2.3 billion (€1.4bn) contract for the country’s Arctic military coverage. The contract will use Telesat’s Lightspeed fleet of low Earth orbiting satellites now being built.

The contract expands Lightspeed’s network by some 44 per cent by adding extra satellites to the initial 156-craft plan to 225 satellites.

The order comes from Canada’s Defence Investment Agency (DIA) to deliver secure Military Ka-band (Mil-Ka) Arctic connectivity to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) under the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar (ESCP-P) programme. It is the largest contract in company’s six-decade history expands Telesat Lightspeed constellation to 225 satellites. The contract is for a period of 15 years of service, including the option years, with service under the contract beginning in 2028. The expected start of Telesat Lightspeed global service delivery remains on track for Q1 2028.

Telesat said: “This is the largest contract in Telesat’s history and will significantly expand the scale and capacity of the Telesat Lightspeed network, positioning the company for accelerated growth. This agreement allows Telesat to immediately expand its Telesat Lightspeed network by 69 fully funded satellites, bringing the initial constellation from 156 to 225 satellites, all to be built by MDA Space, with both commercial and Mil-Ka capacity. The expansion will be funded through milestone-based payments from the Government of Canada starting in Q3 2026.”

The 69 additional Telesat Lightspeed satellites announced will be built by MDA Space at its satellite manufacturing facility in Montreal and launched by SpaceX on already-secured Falcon 9 rockets in addition to another Falcon 9 rocket that remains subject to the completion of a launch services agreement. This expansion brings Telesat’s total expected investment in its network of 225 satellites to approximately C$7 billion, with C$2.7 billion invested to date. The programme is expected to create and sustain thousands of jobs in Canada.

“This contract ensures the Canadian Armed Forces will have access to secure, resilient and sovereign connectivity years earlier than originally planned, at a great value for money, and with a scalable architecture designed to meet future global operational requirements and support interoperability with Canada’s allies and partners,” commented Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “High speed and low latency connectivity is critical for modern military forces, and Telesat Lightspeed is expected to be foundational for future CAF and allied governments’ operations.”

Goldberg added: “This contract also represents a step change in the scale and commercial potential of Telesat Lightspeed. The significant expansion of our constellation, combined with burgeoning demand for secure satellite communications worldwide, positions us to accelerate the growth of our business while serving the evolving and mission critical requirements of defence and commercial customers.”

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Tags: canada, lightspeed, telesat