spacetoday.net: Telesat cuts Lightspeed constellation by a third

Posted: Wed, May 11, 2022, 3:04 PM ET (1904 GMT)
Telesat is cutting the size of its Lightspeed constellation by a third because of cost increases. In an earnings call Friday, the company said that it would order 188 satellites plus 10 in-orbit spares from Thales Alenia Space, rather than the 298 originally planned. Telesat is cutting the size of the constellation to address delays and keep the system within its $5 billion budget. Telesat has raised $3.3 billion to fund the project from existing financial resources and Canadian government funding, and is waiting to get commitments for covering the rest of Telesat Lightspeed's cost before signing an order contract with Thales. Telesat says Lightspeed will still offer about 10 terabits of capacity for government and enterprise markets despite the reduced size.