Telesat CEO sees massive opportunity with low earth orbit satellites

Chief executive Daniel Goldberg says company is ready for expanded demand

A Department of Defence pico-satellite known as Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment 2 (ANDE-2) is released from a space shuttle's payload bay. Photo: Nasa

Low-earth-orbit satellites will provide an unprecedented market opportunity for operators amid a surge in demand for high-quality broadband connectivity, Telesat chief executive Daniel Goldberg said on Tuesday.

Mr Goldberg made the comments to a packed auditorium in Washington at the Satellite 2025 Conference and Exhibition, a flagship event for satellite technology sellers and operators.

Telesat's Daniel Goldberg expects the company's LEO to be launched in 2026 and offer global service with a 198-satellite network by 2027. Cody Combs / The National

“The technology is ready, the customers are ready and my colleagues and I just couldn't be more excited about moving forward,” he said, referring to Telesat’s anticipated Lightspeed Satellite Constellation project, which seeks to launch 198 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites at some point in 2026.

Telesat will be entering a crowded LEO connectivity marketplace, which already features SpaceX’s Starlink, EutelSat’s OneWeb, and Amazon's Project Kuiper, but Mr Goldberg said the market for wireless communication in remote areas, as well as in the maritime and aviation sectors, shows no sign of slowing down.

“We've been at this for 56 years now,” he said, referring the company's experience with space technology.

A time-exposure image shows a trail of a group of SpaceX's Starlink satellites passing over Uruguay in 2021. AFP

Telesat’s endeavour to make inroads in the LEO satellite sector has been neither cheap nor speedy. Mr Goldberg said that Covid-19 set the project back.

In 2024, however, Telesat completed a $2.54 billion funding agreement with the government of Canada. Mr Goldberg said the extra time provided by the pandemic has allowed the company to make use of newer technology.

“We leveraged a more advanced processor for the satellite, which meant that the satellites could be cheaper,” he said.

Unlike traditional satellite communication options such as geostationary satellites, which orbit Earth in the range of 20,000km to 35,000km, LEO satellites orbit in the range of 160km to 2,000km, significantly accelerating internet speeds and cutting back on the latency usually associated with satellites.

The Satellite Conference and Exhibition in Washington displays the latest insights and innovation from the satellite communication industry. Cody Combs / The National

In contrast to 5G or broadband internet connectivity options, LEO satellite internet terminals like Starlink do not depend on mobile towers or high-speed data lines for connectivity, making internet connection possible in remote areas.

LEO satellites have also proven effective in areas where internet infrastructure has been damaged during war or natural disasters.

Morgan Stanley estimated that the satellite broadband market could be worth as much as $400 billion by 2040 — about 40 per cent of the estimated $1 trillion generated by the global space industry that year.

Starlink is widely considered to be the leader in the sector with various estimates showing that the company’s constellation consists of at least 7,000 LEO satellites.

Some experts have gone as far as to suggest that constellations of more than 50,000 active LEO satellites could be orbiting overhead within the next decade.

Telesat has lofty expectation for its much anticipated low-earth-orbit satellite systems. Reuters

The growth of the sector has caused some concern over the problem of space junk and satellite collisions, also known as Kessler Syndrome. Mr Goldberg acknowledged those concerns, but said that Telesat and other companies have been diligent in preventing problems.

“It's a very important issue and it requires all of us to co-operate and share data and be very transparent with each other,” he said. “If we do that and take the risk seriously, this is something that we'll be able to manage and ensure that the space environment is there for everyone's use and enjoyment for decades and decades and centuries.”