SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
A month after announcing that it had cleared the finance hurdle for its Lightspeed constellation and brought MDA onboard as its prime manufacturer, Telesat announced yesterday a launch contract with SpaceX.
Telesat seemingly has always viewed the market for its Lightspeed Constellation not as a race to be the first to market, but rather a marathon, putting together the pieces of their new service knowing their track record would buy them some time. But the market was getting anxious as quarterly investor calls showed.
Now, however, breathing a sigh of relief, Telesat has secured the launch of up to 18 satellites per launch on 14 launches on the highly reliable and workhorse Falcon 9 of SpaceX. The Falcon 9 has completed 254 missions successfully including 63 this year.
The first launches are scheduled for sometime in 2026 and Telesat they will begin providing global service in 2027.
In a press release Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO said “SpaceX has been a trusted and effective launch provider to Telesat on our geostationary satellite programs and I am delighted that they will be supporting us with their highly reliable Falcon 9 rocket to deploy the Telesat Lightspeed constellation, the most ambitious program in Telesat’s 54-year history. Given the dedication and professionalism of the SpaceX team, and their outstanding track record of reliability and demonstrated high launch cadence, I have the utmost confidence that they will be an outstanding partner in helping us bring Telesat Lightspeed into service in a timely and low risk manner.”
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer, added “With growing demand for high-speed internet around the world, SpaceX is proud to launch and deploy Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation. Building upon our successful launch partnership to-date, we look forward to flying Telesat once again as they expand connectivity capabilities for their customers across the globe.”
