OTTAWA – Telesat has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to offer its global, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation to the U.S, market.
The global satellite operator said that it has worldwide rights to the use of approximately 4 GHz of Ka-band spectrum for its LEO system, which is ideal for high-performing broadband satellite networks. The LEO system will both enable and accelerate the world’s digital transformation by providing high-performing, cost-effective, fibre-like broadband anywhere in the world for business, government and individual users.
The initial constellation will consist of around 120 satellites by 2021, and the company said that it is evaluating options to expand its system beyond the initial deployment. Telesat is planning to launch two Phase 1 LEO satellites later this year.
“The FCC’s grant of Telesat’s application for U.S. market access is an important milestone in our plan to deploy an advanced, high capacity, low latency LEO constellation,” said Telesat president and CEO Dan Goldberg, in the news release. “Telesat applauds the FCC’s ruling, which will bring manifold benefits to the U.S. market including improved access to the Internet as well as the potential to enhance opportunities for U.S. workers and consumers, U.S. industry and the U.S. technology base. Next generation LEO satellite constellations have great promise for erasing the digital divide and Telesat encourages the FCC, as it reviews its spectrum allocation policies, to ensure that satellite operators have sufficient access to the spectrum necessary to deliver on that promise.”
In other company news, Telesat has expanded its relationship with Sat Space Africa which has contracted additional Ku-band capacity on the Telstar 12 Vantage satellite. The contract was signed in preparation for Sat Space Africa’s launch of a new hub in Namibia, which follows their existing hubs in South Africa, Angola and two in the United Kingdom.
Sat Space Africa implements satellite solutions in C-band, Ku-band and Ka-band as well as MPLS networks across Africa, ground segment services and licensing. Its customer base includes corporate and governmental organizations as well as home users and rural networks.
