Telesat’s Mount Jackson, Virginia, teleport. Photo: Telesat

Telesat is moving forward for new landing stations for Telesat Lightspeed in Saskatchewan and Quebec with land leases and purchases announced Tuesday. 

Telesat has acquired land in Estevan, Saskatchewan and in Papineauville, Quebec, and has leased land in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. These sites will host new landing stations that will route data between the Telesat Lightspeed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network and major fiber and internet exchange points. 

The Quebec landing station is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2026 with the Saskatchewan sites to follow by year end.

“Telesat is rapidly advancing the global buildout of the terrestrial infrastructure that will be fully integrated with our LEO satellites, and these Quebec and Saskatchewan sites are playing pivotal roles in that progress,” said Asit Tandon, Telesat’s chief network and information officer. “These strategically located facilities strengthen connectivity across Canada and contribute to the worldwide terrestrial foundation we are establishing ahead of our first satellite launch in December.”

Intellian is under contract to build all of the gateway antennas for Telesat Lightspeed, under a deal announced in 2024. 

In September, Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg told investors that Telesat plans to build four teleports in Canada, with additional landing station locations in the U.S., Latin America, and Asia.