Telesat publishes Q4-2022 quarterly report, finally admits won't meet FCC milestones for Lightspeed, says might not get extension, explains ITU milestones but won't mention 01-JAN-23 deadline for milestone 1 as in Q4-2021 report. Is Lightspeed dead?
Telesat now expects to start deploying satellites for Lightspeed around 2026, six years later than originally planned as talks to fund the low Earth orbit broadband constellation drag on.
Speaking during the company’s quarterly earnings call with analysts, Goldberg said inflationary pressures have since stabilized but he did not give an update on Lightspeed costs or launch agreements for the nearly 200 satellites to be built by Europe’s Thales Alenia Space.Telesat has previously said it plans to use rockets still under development by Blue Origin and Relativity Space to deploy the constellation.
OTTAWA, CANADA – August 11, 2023 –Telesat (NASDAQ and TSX: TSAT), one of the world’s largest and most innovative satellite operators, today announced that space technology company MDA Ltd. (TSX: MDA) will build 198 advanced satellites for the Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) program. Telesat also announced that Telesat Lightspeed is now fully funded through global service delivery taking into account the company’s own equity contribution, certain vendor financing, and aggregate funding commitments from its Canadian federal and provincial government partners.
MDA is building 198 satellites for Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation under a contract worth 2.1 billion Canadian dollars ($1.6 billion), with launches slated to start in the middle of mid-2026.Weighing 750 kilograms each, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said the satellites are 75% smaller than earlier versions planned by Thales Alenia Space, but would have the same performance by using digital beam-forming array antennas instead of the analog terminals MDA was due to supply as a subcontractor.Telesat expects the total cost for 156 satellites to be around $3.5 billion, when factoring in launches and other expenses, including the ground systems and user terminal technology that would also be used for the 42 follow-on satellites.Glenn Katz, Telesat’s chief commercial officer, told SpaceNews the company has contracted all the launch vehicles required to complete the 198-satellite constellation, but declined to disclose details.
<snip>Glenn Katz, Telesat’s chief commercial officer, told SpaceNews the company has contracted all the launch vehicles required to complete the 198-satellite constellation, but declined to disclose details.
Quote from: spacenuance on 08/11/2023 06:50 pm<snip>Glenn Katz, Telesat’s chief commercial officer, told SpaceNews the company has contracted all the launch vehicles required to complete the 198-satellite constellation, but declined to disclose details.Seems likely Telsat has call up the Hawthonre folks to deploy their Lightspeed constellation. The alternate launch options seems to be under capacity and expensive.
About 10x F9R launches so $600-650m.
MDA: Our $1.55B, 198-satellite @Telesat Lightspeed contract's a huge help to our bids for other LEO constellations, several of which have passed our credibility test. Supply chain decisions - bus, laser terminals - yet to come.
Great News!Telesat Lightspeed satellites will be launched into orbit by SpaceX using their Falcon 9 rocket. The launches are scheduled to begin in 2026 and SpaceX’s rapid launch cadence will ensure worldwide services available to Telesat customers by 2027
Telesat and SpaceX Announce 14-Launch Agreement for Advanced Telesat Lightspeed LEO SatellitesOTTAWA, CANADA and HAWTHORNE, CALIFORNIA – September 11, 2023 –Telesat (NASDAQ and TSX: TSAT), one of the world’s largest and most innovative satellite operators, and SpaceX, which designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft, today announced a multi-launch agreement to deliver the Telesat Lightspeed constellation to Low Earth Orbit (LEO).Telesat has contracted 14 launches on SpaceX’s Falcon 9, the most reliable and only reusable orbital rocket flying today, which will carry up to 18 Telesat Lightspeed satellites to LEO per launch. The launch campaign is scheduled to commence in 2026 and will take advantage of SpaceX’s high launch cadence to rapidly deploy the satellites and enable Telesat to begin providing global service in 2027. Launches for the campaign will lift off from SpaceX’s launch facilities in California and Florida.Designed from inception to serve the demanding, mission-critical connectivity requirements of enterprise and government users, the optically-linked Telesat Lightspeed network will provide multi-Gbps data links and highly secure, resilient, low-latency broadband connectivity anywhere in the world. With the August signing of MDA as the prime satellite manufacturer and all necessary launch contracts in place for global constellation deployment, Telesat is well-positioned to begin delivering unmatched, enterprise-class connectivity in late 2027.“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,” stated Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “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.”“With growing demand for high-speed internet around the world, SpaceX is proud to launch and deploy Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation” said SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell. “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.”
Does the plan call for more prototypes, or will the next launch for Lightspeed be full-scale satellites?The first launch will be the actual satellites, although maybe we’ll launch just a couple of them and do a bunch of in-orbit testing and whatnot before getting on a very active launch cadence to populate the constellation.
My expectation is mass production will probably be in the middle of the second half of 2025.
You have previously talked about launch agreements with Blue Origin and Relativity Space. Is that still the plan?We have those arrangements in place, and we’ve got another announcement that’ll be coming as well [Telesat announced a contract with SpaceX Sep. 11 for 14 Falcon 9 launches, enough for deploying the entire constellation].
How would 198 satellites improve services versus 156?The initial 156 will give us a hugely capable, multi-terabit constellation, but getting up to 198 will give us some incremental capacity and densify the network.
She said Telesat did not intend to use Relativity for the initial constellation deployment. Instead, Telesat would use the 3D printing specialist for single satellite launches to replace a satellite or add to the constellation.
https://spacenews.com/telesat-signs-multi-launch-spacex-deal-covering-all-lightspeed-satellites/QuoteShe said Telesat did not intend to use Relativity for the initial constellation deployment. Instead, Telesat would use the 3D printing specialist for single satellite launches to replace a satellite or add to the constellation.Based on this, sounds like they were only planning on using Terran 1. Now that thats gone, I doubt Terran R will be used at all now that they signed with Falcon and are keeping the Blue contract open for later launches.
Planning on using an LV that is not yet operational has proven to be a bad idea.
I'd guess they get a multi-launch discount, but I'll also guess SpaceX provides the deployers, so that may add back a little.
Quote from: gongora on 09/11/2023 04:30 pmI'd guess they get a multi-launch discount, but I'll also guess SpaceX provides the deployers, so that may add back a little.I highly doubt they were provided with any discount. SpaceX could charge a premium based on “congested supply” and still win easily.
