Under terms of a newly signed agreement, SatixFy will design, develop, and supply landing station baseband systems to Telesat to support data transmissions between satellites and terrestrial networks.
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“Through this agreement, Telesat will be able to fully integrate its innovative Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites with its global terrestrial network to deliver secure, resilient broadband capabilities that meet the mission-critical requirements of telecom, government and enterprise organisations,” said Aneesh Dalvi, VP for Lightspeed systems development at Telesat.
Telesat’s long-awaited Lightspeed LEO constellation is edging closer to reality. The first satellite was launched in 2018, with Telesat signing up with Elon Musk-owned SpaceX to a multi-launch agreement to deliver more of its LEO units into orbit.
To build out support for the Lightspeed network, Telesat has been shoring up systems to support the constellation, recently awarding Intellian the rights to design, supply, and install gateway antenna systems at Lightspeed landing stations.
Telesat’s latest deal will see SatixFy create landing station baseband systems, which will receive satellite-transmitted signals and handle baseband processing, converting high-frequency signals from the satellite's radio frequency (RF) to digital signals for terrestrial data transport.
The total agreement with SatixFy is worth US$39 million, which includes equipment and non-recurring engineering charges. SatixFy was paid US$5 million as part of the non-recurring engineering charges prior to its financial reporting period.
SatixFy will deliver the baseband units over a 28-month period.
“We are proud to be a critical technology supplier for the Telesat Lightspeed programme and this agreement further strengthens our position as the leading provider of chipsets and equipment for the satellite communications industry,” said Nir Barkan, CEO of SatixFy. “We look forward to continuing to expand our relationship with Telesat, as well as other leading satellite service providers and operators."
