Telesat’s first Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite. Photo: Telesat

Telesat awarded Intellian a contract to design and manufacture Ka-band flat panel user terminals for the Lightspeed Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation, Telesat announced on Feb. 27.

The contract aims to deliver high-speed connectivity for various markets, including fixed enterprise applications, wireless backhaul, government, land mobility, and maritime sectors. Intellian will design and manufacture Ka-band LEO flat panels to meet the requirements of the Telesat Lightspeed network.

Intellian has expanded its portfolio to include advanced Ka-band active electronically scanning arrays (AESA) technology.

Telesat said the partnership will benefit customers through Intellian’s approach to user terminal manufacturing. Intellian will produce small form factor flat panels, using specialized manufacturing techniques to achieve high performance while minimizing weight and power consumption.

Edward Joannides, Intellian’s vice president of Strategy & Business Development commented: “We’re thrilled to partner with Telesat to develop flat panel antennas for the Telesat Lightspeed network, enabling reliable, high-performing satellite connectivity for their customers across land, mobile, maritime, and government markets. This new AESA collaboration follows previously announced contract awards for parabolic reference terminals and the gateway antenna system program.”

Last year, Telesat signed with Intellian for 127 gateway antenna systems at landing stations for the Telesat Lightspeed constellation. Intellian was contracted to design, supply, install, and integrate the gateway antenna system.