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It has signed an agreement with the satellite operator Telesat to be the prime contractor for the low Earth orbit (LEO) network. Initially, this will be comprising a fleet of 298 satellites in the 700-750 kg class.
Thales Alenia Space will provide the space and mission segments and also be responsible for the end-to-end network performance and related specifications of the system. The first satellites are expected to be ready for launch in two years.
The network is intended to deliver multiple terabits per second across the globe, providing secure, low-latency broadband professional services.
Digitalization
“I want to warmly thank Telesat for putting its trust in our company, and we are proud to have been selected after successfully going through a very demanding competitive process,” said Hervé Derrey, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “Thales Alenia Space is mastering end-to-end flight proven systems, digitalization of payloads, inter-satellite links, management of international organization as well as industrial capabilities dedicated to constellations, and we are honored to capitalize on all this expertise to serve this major program”.
The Lightspeed network is described as providing a very high level of flexibility in capacity allocation, using active antennas that can dynamically refocus beams a thousand times per second, optical laser links between the satellites and processors able to address a range of bandwidths.
“With our design and engineering work complete, we’re excited to move forward with Thales Alenia Space as our Prime Contractor to manufacture Lightspeed, the world’s most advanced and capable LEO network,” said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat. “Thales Alenia Space has an impressive track record and proven success in delivering innovative satellite constellations. We are grateful for the excellent work they have done to date on our project and look forward to working closely together to transform and redefine space-based communications with the Lightspeed network.”
Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between the France-based Thales (67%) and Italian-based Leonardo.
Space for broadband
Satellite-based broadband is becoming a competitive and crowded space.
Last week Omnispace raised $60m in new funding for the development of its global 5G/IoT hybrid mobile network, combining satellite and terrestrial coverage.
Other companies looking to provide satellite-based 5G and broadband networks include Elon Musk’s Starlink, Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper and the UK government-owned OneWeb.
Image: Thales Alenia Space/Master Image Programmes
