Canadian company Telesat was awarded more than $2 billion to build 69 low-Earth orbit satellites and enhance the Canadian Armed Forces’ satellite communication.
In a Tuesday news release, the federal government said the new satellites “will enable secure, resilient and reliable military communications in the Arctic and other high-latitude regions.”
The federal government said the satellites will “defend Canadian sovereignty,” support Canadian military, North American Aerospace Defense Command and search and rescue missions, and enhance Arctic situational awareness.
“This contract ensures the Canadian Armed Forces will have access to secure, resilient and sovereign connectivity years earlier than originally planned, at a great value for money, and with a scalable architecture designed to meet future global operational requirements and support interoperability with Canada’s allies and partners,” said Dan Goldberg, president and chief executive officer of Telesat, in the news release.
According to Telesat, the contract is for a period of 15 years of service and the constellation is set to be in service by early 2028.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
MDA Space, headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, will build the satellites at their Montreal manufacturing facility.
“At a time when the Canadian Armed Forces urgently need secure and sovereign connectivity in the North, the Government of Canada is committing significant financial resources and tapping our country’s world-leading space industrial base to ensure Canada’s defence in the strategic region of the Arctic,” said Mike Greenley, chief executive officer of MDA Space.
“We commend the government’s commitment to sovereign connectivity and for a remarkably agile, rapid and responsive procurement process, which involved advancing from the options analysis and definition phase of the program to development and procurement in only a matter of months.”
The Government of Canada said they have had a “strategic partnership” with Telesat and MDA Space since December 2025.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Tuesday’s news release said the project will create or maintain 2,600 jobs in part because of the federal Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, which requires companies with defence procurement contracts over $500 million to “undertake business activity in Canada equal to the value of the contracts they have won,” according to the Government of Canada’s website.
“Through this project, we are accelerating the delivery of critical capabilities, defending Canada’s sovereignty and security, and strengthening our domestic defence industrial base to deliver for Canadians for years to come,” said Minister of National Defence David J McGuinty.
The satellite contract, valued at $2.3 billion and awarded by the Defence Investment Agency, is part of the federal Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar.
Along with the low-Earth orbit satellites, the project will include the construction of a medium-Earth orbit satellite constellation built by MDA Space. The federal government said Tuesday negotiations on the “definition and development” of these satellites are still underway.
