The Canadian government last week announced the construction of a new Telesat campus in Gatineau that is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025 and bring 300 new high-skilled jobs to the area.
The $25-million facility is part of the larger $6.5-billion Telesat Lightspeed initiative, which is being supported by a $2.14-billion federal loan and a $400-million provincial loan from Quebec to build and operate Telesat’s Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.
“The new campus will host Telesat’s network operations centre, satellite control centre and cybersecurity operation centre, as well as a state-of-the-art engineering development facility to support the deployment and operations of the LEO satellite constellation. The opening of this new campus will act as a catalyst for new job creation — well-paying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) jobs — in Quebec,” said a March 7 press release from the federal government.
Telesat has also committed to invest more than $4.4 billion in the Canadian economy over the next 15 years, create 200 post-secondary co-op jobs and provide $1.6 million in scholarships to students in Canada, with a focus on women in STEM programs, according to the press release.
“The Telesat Lightspeed satellite program is well under way, and we’re excited to establish our technical operations campus in Quebec, home to world-class space talent and expertise,” said Dan Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat, in the release. “Telesat Lightspeed will deliver secure, global, high-throughput, low-latency broadband connectivity to eliminate digital deserts across Canada, in the Arctic and around the world, and provide resilient connectivity for our Canadian Armed Forces and our allies.”
Telesat has previously said the first of an initial 198 Telesat Lightspeed LEO satellites are scheduled to launch in 2026.
“The global space economy is growing rapidly, and our government knows that Canada has what it takes to lead the way,” said François-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of innovation, science and industry, in a statement. “Telesat’s new campus in Gatineau will not only bring high-skilled jobs to the area and drive cutting-edge innovation but also house the technical operations functions for Telesat Lightspeed, the largest space satellite program ever conceived and built in Canada. This will enable more connection within Canada’s network of talent and will support students and researchers as they look to participate in this flourishing sector.”
