Company to create 600 Lightspeed jobs in the province
MONTREAL – Satellite operator Telesat announced this week it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Québec for an investment of $400 million into Telesat Lightspeed, the company’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.
The MOU will see Telesat invest $1.6 billion in Québec, both directly and through its supply chain, which will include a significant portion of Lightspeed manufacturing and operations, said the company.
The Lightspeed program will be based in Quebec and will create 600 jobs, “leverage Québec’s substantial aerospace expertise and infrastructure, and allow the province to harness the significant economic growth from the burgeoning New Space Economy,” reads the release.
Lightspeed, where we covered its contractor announcement here, is intended to help bridge the digital divide both in Canada and elsewhere.
Under the terms of the MOU, the investment by the Government of Québec will consist of $200 million in preferred equity as well as a $200 million loan, explained the company. “It is expected that a final agreement will be completed in the coming months,” it said.
This MOU comes right after Telesat’s selection of Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for Lightspeed and its recently completed $600 million partnership with the Government of Canada.
Quebec will become the home for a large Telesat campus that will house a broad range of Lightspeed technical operations, including the network operating centre, a satellite control centre, the cybersecurity operations centre, the engineering lab and an advanced landing station. “This new campus will host approximately 320 new, highly skilled Telesat jobs, largely in STEM,” reads the release.
The company also announced it has selected Canadian space technology company MDA to manufacture the phased array antennas to be incorporated into the Lightspeed satellites. In manufacturing these antennas, “MDA will leverage 3D additive manufacturing and will incorporate advanced beam hopping technology that will allow the Lightspeed constellation to dynamically and flexibly focus high-capacity broadband links into rural and remote communities and other demand hot spots around the world,” reads the release.
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