Rendering of Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO constellation. Photo: Telesat

Telesat awarded SatixFy Communications a $39 million deal to supply the landing station baseband units for the Lightspeed network, Telesat announced Monday. 

Telesat had a previous deal with SatixFy for baseband modems in 2021 under previous Lightspeed plan, but the Canadian operator said this is a new agreement. Under the terms of the new agreement, SatixFy will design, develop, and supply landing station baseband systems to Telesat, with deliveries taking place over a 28-month period. These systems will enable communication between the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites and the landing stations. 

SatixFy has already received $5 million of the $39 million contract value. SatixFy is based in Israel develops multi-beam digital antennas, user terminals and modems, based the company’s proprietary chipsets. 

“We are proud to be a critical technology supplier for the Telesat Lightspeed program and this agreement further strengthens our position as the leading provider of chipsets and equipment for the satellite communications industry,” commented SatixFy CEO Nir Barkan. 

Telesat plans to launch the first Lightspeed satellites in mid-2026 and deliver services globally in 2027. MDA Space is building the satellites and both Telesat and MDA Space have announced a flurry of suppliers for the contract. Last month Telesat announced that Intellian will build the gateway antenna systems at landing stations.