Satellite constellations | Quebec scoops up almost all the work of the Lightspeed project

The virtues of patience have been beneficial to Quebec in the context of a multi-billion dollar telecommunications satellite project financed to the tune of $2.5 billion by the Trudeau and Legault governments. The province ultimately scoops up almost all of the work.

Result: 967 people will be hired – 317 more than what was announced in winter 2021 – and the space hardware manufacturer MDA, which has become the project manager, will double the production capacity of its Montreal plant located in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

“It was worth the wait [et] “I think we can say that we got value for our money,” said Prime Minister François Legault on Friday, alongside, among others, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at the MDA facilities.

Led by Telesat, Project Lightspeed will deploy 198 satellites in low orbit – more than 1,000 kilometres above the Earth – to provide high-speed internet access to remote areas. It has been billed as the “most innovative technology program ever designed and built in Canada.”

Long wait

Quebec and Ottawa had announced financial support in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but supply chain disruptions and inflation caused delays and skyrocketed costs, forcing Telesat to do its homework again, essentially scaling back its ambitions.

When the Franco-Italian giant Thales Alenia Space, which was supposed to manufacture the satellites, left the adventure, the door opened for MDA, which took advantage of the opportunity to move up a gear. This company based in Brampton (Ontario), which was initially supposed to manufacture the satellite antennas and assemble the satellites, finally became the project manager last year.

“We’re now responsible for the whole thing,” MDA CEO Mike Greenley said in an interview with The Press. The structure of the satellite will now be designed by MDA. It will also be our processes and electronic components that will be found inside.

This readjustment took place in the spring of 2023.

“MDA has done some very good things,” he said. The Press Daniel Goldberg, CEO of Telesat. They invested in their technology roadmap, something we were skeptical about a few years ago. They showed us what they can do now.”

This allowed MDA to land a $2.1 billion contract – its largest in its history – from Telesat last year.

With Ottawa-based Telesat as a launch customer for its Aurora MDA platform, the Ontario-based manufacturer plans to step on the accelerator. It will add 185,000 square feet (17,187 square metres) to its Montreal facility to double its production capacity to two satellites per day.

This is an expansion three times larger than what was announced in August 2023. MDA will also hire 600 technicians, engineers and other specialized workers. The place already has more than 1,000 employees.

Large amounts

At a press conference, Quebec and Ottawa confirmed the amounts already announced to support the Lightspeed project, estimated at 4.7 billion.

In the case of the Legault government, it is offering a loan of 400 million to Telesat, which must build half a dozen facilities in Gatineau, notably for the management and monitoring of operations, which will house the constellation headquarters. According to Mr. Goldbert, we are talking about 350 planned hires.

For its part, Ottawa will inject $2.14 billion into the adventure – amounts already announced. This means that the two levels of government are financing nearly 60% of the bill.

In the case of MDA, the company benefits from a forgivable loan (“forgivable loan”) of 75 million offered by the Legault government.

The first satellites are to be sent into orbit in 2026 with a view to offering commercial service the following year. The initial schedule for the first launch had been set for 2023.

Telesat will nevertheless have its work cut out for it. By accumulating delays, it has seen players like Starlink (SpaceX) and OneWeb (Europe) take a head start.

Is it too late? No, according to Mr. Goldberg. After all, the space economy niche is expected to reach US$1.8 trillion by the end of the next decade.

“Do I regret that we were late? Yes,” the Telesat boss replied. “Starlink is ahead of everyone else. But we are not too late. Customers want to have multiple providers. Nobody wants to put all their eggs in one basket.”