Telesat’s timeframe for offering global Lightspeed coverage has again shifted to the right — from the end of Q1 2028 to the end of Q2 2028. But according to Viasat, which last year contracted Telesat for Lightspeed capacity, the three-month delay does not change its plan for utilizing the service as part of its new multi-orbit Amara inflight connectivity offering.
“It doesn’t change our plans,” Don Buchman, president of Viasat Aviation, told Runway Girl Network. “We talk with Telesat regularly, so this didn’t come as a surprise, and we’d already built the timing into how we plan. Our arrangement with Telesat is a long-term partnership, and the schedule is something we manage together as it evolves.”
During Telesat’s Q3 earnings conference call, company president and CEO Dan Goldberg revealed that while MDA Space is progressing with its work to build the first two Lightspeed pathfinder satellites, the assets aren’t completed yet.
Moreover, given the “very tight launch vehicle market, we’re loathe to use one of our valuable Falcon 9 launch slots to launch just two satellites,” he noted. As such, Telesat is now looking to piggyback on a third-party Falcon 9 rocket in June 2027 to launch the two pathfinders and will test them for roughly two months before beginning its cadence of launches thereafter.
Telesat does, however, plan to offer regional Lightspeed service before its global go-live date, with Goldberg revealing that the Canadian satellite operator has altered its satellite deployment strategy so that it can still support service in the higher latitudes by the end of Q1 2028, including for the Canadian military in the Arctic, as contracted, as well as other northern rural broadband services.
Viasat, meanwhile, recently completed the build-out of its three-satellite ViaSat-3 network, and will in time integrate LEO with its wider network as Amara is forward compatible with Lightspeed. It has already secured JetBlue as a customer for Amara, with new aircraft earmarked for the kit. JetBlue has also selected Amazon Leo’s Ka-band Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite-powered IFC solution for a portion of its fleet.
“[A]mazon Leo remains on track for our 2027 induction to the fleet,” JetBlue told RGN on October 28.
Viasat and Amazon are the focus of much speculation at present. On the back of a Satellite Innovation Conference, industry consultant Tim Farrar recently suggested that there is an expectation amongst industry players that Amazon will acquire Viasat mainly for its international spectrum but also ‘to strengthen Amazon’s position in government and aviation’.
The speculation is so rife that an analyst on Telesat’s Q3 earnings conference call pressed management for clarity on whether, in the event of such a transaction, Telesat would still get paid under its Lightspeed services agreement with Viasat.
“The contract is a take or pay commitment,” Goldberg assured. “So long as we meet our obligations, they need to meet their obligations, which is to say, you know, pay us. And we intend to meet our obligations. And you know, certainly today for Viasat, having access to Lightspeed, I think is an important strategic focus of of theirs, so yeah, that kind of how we think about it.”
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Featured image credited to Telesat
