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Telesat selects Intellian to design user terminals for Lightspeed

Intellian has previously worked with Telesat, using Telesat's demonstration satellite and V85NX maritime antenna that has been adapted for land use.

Telesat has awarded Intellian, a provider of satellite communications solutions, a contract to design and supply reference enterprise user terminals for the Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network.

Intellian’s satellite terminal technology leverages the company’s non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) modem integration expertise and satellite tracking algorithms and will provide Telesat’s customers with high throughput access to the Telesat Lightspeed network.

Telesat will use early deliveries of Intellian terminals to support system development and performance testing, and during the Telesat Lightspeed Alpha and Beta Test phases, to demonstrate system capabilities to Telesat’s enterprise, telecom and government customers, including the Government of Canada. Telesat and Intellian are also discussing terminal development programmes for other market segments.

The user terminals feature dual-parabolic antennas to achieve seamless handovers from one satellite to the next in the LEO constellation. The parabolic reflectors are optimised to provide the highest gain achievable with a 1m aperture, allowing high data rates and link margin performance for Telesat’s end-user community.

Speaking about the contract, Aneesh Dalvi, Telesat’s Director of LEO Landing Stations and User Terminals, said: “As a proven terminal provider for Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO demonstrations and with their extensive experience in deploying tracking antennas for NGSO networks, Intellian is the right partner to enable customer access to the Telesat Lightspeed network from anywhere in the world. Intellian’s carrier-grade, dual-parabolic terminals will be an integral component of Telesat’s low-latency, high-performance Telesat Lightspeed ecosystem.”

Eric Sung, Intellian CEO, added: “We’re very pleased to be a technological cornerstone of such a significant venture. This contract is another resounding affirmation of our position as a market leader, partnering to deliver unparalleled value to customers across a diverse range of markets. Our proven capabilities to design cutting-edge, high-performance and flexible solutions synonymous with our products make us an ideal partner for Telesat.”