Telesat Lightspeed: Canada, Quebec give billions of dollars for satellite production [Video]

The Canadian government on Friday announced a loan of $2.14 billion to satellite operator Telesat to help the company build its broadband satellite constellation, in what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as Canada’s largest ever space program.

Quebec’s government, meanwhile, announced a loan of $400 million to the company, which has contracted aerospace technology firm MDA to build its satellites in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que.

Speaking to reporters Friday at MDA’s facility west of Montreal, Trudeau said the Telesat Lightspeed low Earth orbit broadband satellite constellation will enable people in the most remote parts of the country, including in Indigenous communities and mines and forestry companies, to connect with cheaper, more reliable internet.

“That’s what this investment is about,” he said.

“Yes, it’s about investing in satellites and space and all sorts of really cool stuff,” Trudeau said. “But it’s fundamentally about making sure that Canadians and people in more distant communities, in smaller northern communities and in remote parts …