Satellite communications giant Telesat received a further boost as part of its mission to take on Elon Musk’s Starlink and reduce Canada’s dependence on American technology.
The federal government has revealed that Telesat is constructing a new $25-million campus in Gatineau, Que. The facility, across the river from Telesat’s Ottawa headquarters, will serve as an operations centre for the company’s cybersecurity, network, and satellite control. It will also double as an engineering development space to help deploy and run the Telestat Lightspeed low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.
The campus is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025. The government claims the new location will create 300 jobs in the area.
The campus is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The campus will make the city a “strategic hub for the space industry, driving innovation, attracting highly skilled talent and strengthening our expertise in this cutting-edge field,” according to Gatineau Member of Parliament and labour minister Steven MacKinnon.
Telesat Lightspeed is often cast as a direct competitor to Starlink. Both companies make LEO satellites, which have much lower latency (the lag time it takes to send data between the satellites and Earth) compared to higher-orbiting satellites. This allows for both faster internet connections and time-sensitive applications in situations where cellular or conventional broadband service aren’t guaranteed.
In a statement, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said Lightspeed would help get rid of “digital deserts” in Canada and abroad, as well as improving connectivity for the Canadian military and allies. He previously told Reuters that he expected Lightspeed to cost half as much as Starlink or Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
The first 198 satellites are slated to launch in 2026 aboard rockets made by Musk-owned company SpaceX. This is a step toward the Government of Canada’s goal of enabling access to fast internet service for 98 percent of Canadians by 2026, and 100 percent by 2030.
The campus launch comes just as Ontario Premier Doug Ford has cancelled the province’s $100-million internet contract with Starlink in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on Canadian goods. Those tariffs have prompted Canadian governments at multiple levels to reduce their dependencies on American companies and minimize internal trade barriers.
The federal government has long been keen on funding Telesat Lightspeed as a domestic alternative to Starlink and Project Kuiper. Canada provided a $1.44-billion commitment in August 2021 to help build the LEO network. In September of last year, the government offered a $2.14-billion loan to further develop the satellite system.
Provinces have also been involved. Ontario pledged $109 million in 2021, while Québec promised $400 million then and offered a similarly large loan in September 2024.
Feature image courtesy Justin Trudeau via LinkedIn.