Russia has reopened Arctic airfields and deep-water ports, Beijing is probing northern sea lanes, and Canada is wiring the region with new military satellite capacity. Its Defence Investment Agency has signed Telesat to a contract worth about $1.63B for secure Ka-band services above 65 degrees north, the largest agreement in the operator’s history.
Under the first phase of the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project-Polar, the Canadian Armed Forces get military Ka-band coverage starting in 2028. Two five-year options worth about $142M each could push the total near $1.92B and the term to 15 years. Terminals, ground infrastructure, training and support fall under a separate agreement still being assembled.
The award also funds a bigger Lightspeed fleet. Milestone payments from Ottawa lift the number of fully financed satellites from 156 to 225 and grow MDA Space’s order by 27 spacecraft, adding about $337M to its contract. Each satellite dedicates 500 megahertz to allied military terminals while keeping commercial capacity.
Chief executive Dan Goldberg cast the deal as a timeline win, saying it delivers sovereign, hardened links to Canadian forces years ahead of the original schedule. Defense is fast becoming the company’s center of gravity. It now projects military customers at about 46% of 2032 revenue, against a 14% estimate made before the award, as it courts other NATO capitals.
Ottawa ties the program to Arctic sovereignty and its NORAD and NATO commitments. Negotiations are already open on the next ESCP-P phase, a UHF and X-band constellation in medium Earth orbit with MDA Space as prime and Telesat as subcontractor.
