(Reuters) -The Government of Canada will invest C$1.44 billion ($1.15 billion) in Telesat’s low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite network, the satellite communications firm said on Thursday.
LEO satellites operate 36 times closer to the earth than traditional ones, taking less time to send and receive information, leading to better and faster broadband service even in remote areas.
The government will loan C$790 million and finance C$650 million through preferred stocks in the network called Telesat Lightspeed. As part of the deal, Telesat will increase the number of full-time Canadian employees to at least 700.
The latest investment has boosted Telesat’s fund for the network to about C$4 billion. It also includes about C$1.7 billion from its own cash contribution and about C$400 million investment from the government of Quebec province.
Telesat is racing against rivals include billionaire and Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who is putting the so-called Starlink LEO into orbit with his company SpaceX.
Amazon.com Inc founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos is also planning to launch a constellation of such satellites as part of Project Kuiper. Bezos also owns Blue Origin, which builds rockets.
($1 = 1.2509 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
