Telesat headquarters. Photo: Telesat.

Communications technology developer Newtec has successfully tested its modems on Telesat’s inaugural Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite and confirmed that it achieved operations without packet loss. The modems are working with a Telesat Phase 1 LEO satellite Ka-band payload to demonstrate different service scenarios that will be powered by the completed Telesat LEO constellation.

Newtec installed the modems last month at Telesat’s Allan Park facility. Telesat expects to conduct live phase 1 LEO testing with its customers in the coming weeks. “The testing process began with small-scale tests and we have been working our way up throughout the process, with these latest tests showing the potential of LEOs in efficiently and reliably delivering end-user traffic. Our modem portfolio, combined with next-generation on-board technologies, is ideally suited to bring maximum efficiency and throughput,” Newtec CTO Frederik Simoens said in a statement.

Telesat’s LEO constellation aims to combine the company’s global spectrum rights in Ka-band with its proprietary LEO architecture to transform global communications. It is is designed to deliver affordable fiber-quality connectivity around the world.  Once fully deployed, Telesat LEO will accelerate 4G/5G expansion, bridge the digital divide with fiber-like high-speed services into rural and remote communities for commercial and government broadband end-users on land, sea and in the air.