The deployment of 198 satellites for the future Telesat Lightspeed network is finally set to take off.
Initially announced with great fanfare in 2021 and then postponed several times, the project was the subject of a new announcement on Friday in the presence of Premier François Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Quebec will invest $475 million, including $400 million in Telesat to support the development, manufacturing, commercialization, and operation of the satellites, and $75 million will go to MDA, based in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, which will act as the project’s lead contractor.
The project is now expected to create 967 jobs, 317 more than initially planned during the 2021 announcement.
The project involves total investments of more than $6.1 billion, with over $2.6 billion invested in Quebec.
As part of this project, Telesat plans to establish a satellite control and operations centre in Gatineau.
Ottawa had already announced investments of $2.14 billion in the project.
-This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 13, 2024.