Government of Canada announces strategic partnership with MDA and Telesat to strengthen military communications in the Arctic (and lots of Noah Notes)

December 9, 2025 - Ottawa, Ontario

The Government of Canada is committed to equipping the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) with the tools it needs to protect Canadians, strengthen our Arctic security and unleash the economic potential of the North.

Today, the Honourable Joël Lightbound, Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant, the Honourable David McGuinty, Minister of National Defence, and the Honourable Stephen Fuhr, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement), announced that the Government of Canada has established a strategic partnership with Telesat Corporation and MDA Space, to develop and bolster the Canadian Forces’ military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) capabilities.

This partnership is part of the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar (ESCP-P), one of the key procurements being led by the newly formed Defence Investment Agency. It will provide reliable wideband and narrowband connectivity to support domestic and continental operations in the Arctic. This project is leveraging Canadian industry to create high-quality jobs across the country, while unlocking a multi-billion dollar investment in Canada's defence sector.

The Government of Canada selected Telesat and MDA Space as strategic partners because of their combined expertise in secure satellite communications and space-based infrastructure. This strategic partnership ensures a strong role for the domestic space sector, while reinforcing the government’s commitment to Arctic security, Canadian sovereignty and creating high-quality jobs with our generational investments in defence.

The announcement demonstrates Canada’s commitment to modernizing military capabilities, supporting NATO and NORAD priorities, and ensuring that Canadian innovation plays a central role in meeting emerging threats.

---

Quotes

“Today’s announcement underscores Canada’s commitment to equipping our military with the tools it needs to operate effectively in the North and beyond. Through this strategic investment in military satellite communications, we are not only strengthening the Canadian Armed Forces’ ability to maintain secure, reliable communications in remote regions, but also supporting innovation and job creation across Canada. This project reflects how modern, forward-looking procurement can deliver both operational excellence and long-term economic benefits for Canadians.”

The Honourable Joël Lightbound

Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant

“The Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar marks a critical advancement for Canada’s defence and sovereignty, particularly across our Arctic and northern regions. By investing in cutting-edge satellite communications, we are providing the Canadian Armed Forces with secure, resilient, and modern capabilities—allowing them to safeguard our airspace, respond quickly to emerging threats, and support communities throughout the Arctic and the North. This investment also reaffirms Canada’s steadfast commitment to our key partners, including the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. And it underscores our determination to meet our sovereign defence objectives as outlined in Canada’s defence policy, Our North, Strong and Free.”

The Honourable David McGuinty

Minister of National Defence

“I am proud to announce the strategic partnership for the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar, led by the Defence Investment Agency, as part of my mandate to deliver the capabilities the Canadian Armed Forces need to protect our sovereignty. This investment to strengthen our Arctic security and operations will be supported by Canadian expertise and will create high-quality jobs across the country. In collaboration with Canadian industry partners Telesat and MDA Space, the project will deliver robust and secure military satellite communications capabilities that ensure our forces remain connected across vast and remote regions.”

The Honourable Stephen Fuhr

Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)

“This strategic partnership for the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar will advance Canada’s sovereign satellite communications capabilities, which are vital for reliable Arctic operations and national security. Through the Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, this project will create high-value jobs, drive targeted investments and strengthen innovation across Canada’s space and defence sectors, including small and medium-sized businesses. We’re investing in Canadian expertise, capacity and leadership in space technologies to advance and compete on the global stage.”

The Honourable Mélanie Joly

Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

“The Enhanced Satellite Communications Project – Polar will play a critical role in advancing the communications capabilities of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the broader Canadian Armed Forces. The ESCP-P project will significantly enhance our ability to conduct sovereignty operations in the Arctic, supporting the defence of Canada and North America. Through this strategic partnership, the project will deliver secure wideband and narrowband satellite communications capabilities that are essential to fulfilling the RCAF’s continental defence mandate.”

LGen Jamie Speiser-Blanchet

Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force

“For decades, Telesat has proudly supported the mission-critical connectivity needs of the Canadian Armed Forces. Along with MDA Space, we are honoured to be chosen as strategic partners in modernizing Canada’s defence capabilities and expanding secure, resilient communications infrastructure. We commend the government’s forward-thinking approach to defence procurement—one that harnesses industry expertise, innovation, and investment to accelerate deployment of a secure, multi-frequency architecture that strengthens Arctic security and safeguards Canadian sovereignty.”

Dan Goldberg

President and CEO, Telesat

“MDA Space has a long history as a trusted mission partner to the Canadian Armed Forces, delivering the advanced technologies and mission outcomes they need to accomplish their critical mandate. We understand the significance of the missions they execute and the challenges inherent in their operations. With this partnership, and in close collaboration with the Department of National Defence and Telesat, we are ready to deliver essential Arctic military satellite communications capabilities at the speed of innovation and operational relevance.”

Mike Greenley

Chief Executive Officer, MDA Space

---

Quick facts

• As a first step, Canada has awarded a $2.92-million (including taxes) contract to Telesat in conjunction with MDA Space to conduct engineering and options analysis work for ESCP-P.

• Canada is using a strategic partner model for the delivery of ESCP-P. The strategic partner model is an innovative approach to defence procurement that streamlines processes and accelerates timelines, while leveraging industry experience and expertise in the design, development and delivery of defence projects and programs.

• This strategic partnership will maximize operational capability for the Canadian Armed Forces, deliver optimal value for Canadian citizens, contribute to Canada's economic prosperity and solidify Telesat's and MDA Space’s position as Canadian champions in Arctic MILSATCOM.

• The MILSATCOM capabilities will enhance the CAF’s ability to conduct its core missions, including defending sovereign Canada and North America through the North American Aerospace Defense Agreement (NORAD), in addition to surveillance and search and rescue missions.

• Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) Policy will apply to ESCP-P, ensuring that the project will generate high-value jobs in Canada, foster innovation and strengthen Canada’s domestic space and defence sectors. As a result of the ITB Policy, the strategic partnership will help ensure the involvement of the Canadian space ecosystem, including small and medium-sized businesses.

• On October 2, 2025, the Prime Minister announced the establishment of the Defence Investment Agency. The Defence Investment Agency is a new special operating agency created to accelerate and streamline defence procurements. It represents a significant step in transforming Canada’s defence procurement system to rebuild, rearm and reinvest in the CAF to respond to evolving global threats and meet operational demands.

---

Noah Note: WOW! I just talked about ESCP-P yesterday! Talk about a wonderful surprise for me this morning. My expectation was that ESCP-P was still a ways off, obviously, given it was still in the Options Analysis phase.

ESCP-P has been lingering for a long while. It has been one of those projects that has sat on the sidelines for a long time. If you have seen me talking about space before this week, you'll know that my expectations were that the Federal Government would go fairly slow on this front. I am happy to be proven wrong this week; instead, the government of Canada has decided to go a different route by taking a very Agile approach to this.

Instead of going through the full procurement process, the Federal Government will instead leverage the capabilities of MDA and Telesat to develop a network in cooperation together. The original plan for ESCP-P was to award a contract in 2029/2030 with delivery sometime in the mid-2030s.

Under this new model, development of the network will begin now, likely leveraging off the Lightspeed network and the infrastructure being developed for it. That includes the new Ground-Based Infrastructure being developed for the network, the Aurora bus that MDA has developed for the Lightspeed network, and the manufacturing capability that MDA has been developing in conjunction with that Aurora bus.

The Aurora bus is really cool. It's a fully integrated, software-defined satellite platform optimized for high-throughput, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellations. It features a regenerative On-Board Processor (OBP) that features a built-in software-defined packet router, enabling dynamic, in-orbit reconfiguration of coverage, frequency, and bandwidth allocation.

The platform leverages industry-first Ka-band Direct Radiating Arrays (DRA) with direct RF sampling, eliminating the need for intermediate frequency conversion and significantly reducing mass and power consumption while maximizing spectral efficiency.

Aurora is designed from the start to be scalable, modular, and quick to produce. As part of its recent expansion, the company has established a new 185,000-square-foot production facility in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. This facility will have the capacity to produce up to two Aurora buses a day, a significant expansion of the company's capacity.

I also don't believe I need to introduce Lightspeed, but for those that don't know, Lightspeed is Telesat's newest enterprise-class, high-throughput LEO constellation. Lightspeed is a fully regenerative space-based mesh network that delivers fiber-like latency and multi-gigabit throughput to any point on Earth, including polar regions, while maintaining MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet standards.

Comprising 198 satellites operating in a hybrid mix of polar (~1,000 km) and inclined (~1,325 km) orbital planes, each satellite is equipped with four Optical Inter-Satellite Links (OISLs), creating a compliant Layer 2 mesh network in space. This allows data to route directly between satellites via laser links, bypassing ground gateways until the traffic reaches its final destination or an optimal peering point.

The network delivers robust, carrier-grade performance specifications, including round-trip latency as low as 30-50 ms and single-terminal speeds reaching 7.5 Gbps downlink and 1 Gbps uplink.

It represents a sovereign, Canadian-controlled network tailor-made for Canadian demands, including in the Arctic, where many similar networks struggle. The first launches for Lightspeed are scheduled for late next year, with the network coming fully online in 2027.

Lightspeed is already proving popular with international partners, with Telesat already securing agreements with Viasat, Orange, Space Norway, and Arabsat to leverage Lightspeed's capacity in support of their networks. The company is also looking to the EU by proposing Lightspeed as a bridge for the future IRIS² constellation.

This represents yet the latest in a string of space-based investments that the Federal government has rolled out. Last week, the Federal Government announced $44.7 million in funding to C-CORE, Kepler, and MDA Space to study development of a replacement to the Radarsat constellation, as well as funding a fourth Radarsat satellite. This falls under the DESSP project.

IDEaS is also running the Launch the North challenge, aiming at establishing both a domestic Small and Medium-launch capability as outlined in Budget 2025. That is running in two parts, with the current contest being dedicated to Small-Launch.

MDA and ThothX were also recently awarded a contract to provide Ground-Based, Space Domain Awareness (SDA) utilizing Thoth's Earthfence Radar Capability. Multiple companies including C-Core, Kepler, Galaxia, and the University of Victoria have also all been awarded contracts under the SpaceLEO Initiative to explore several different capabilities.

It is truly a Renaissance for the Canadian space industry. Rarely has a government put this much backing and effort; not since the 60s and 70s have we seen such a massive scale of investment and support. Of course, the Canadian Space Industry has been marked as one of the key high-end industries that the Federal government plans to invest in both commercially and as part of the Defence Industrial Strategy.

Can you tell I'm excited? I hope you can! If you had told me a year ago that all of this would be moving this quick? I would have laughed you off. I couldn't even imagine such a thing, let alone at this scale. It would have sounded almost fantastical!

This government has proven to be a friend to Canada's space industry, and more so it's a very good mark for the Defence Investment Agency in my books. Some might be dismissive, but the DIA needs to prove itself, and as a natural skeptic, I have been very hesitant to give them more than the base room to prove themselves.

My dislike of centralized defence agencies is known. I know I am an outlier, however, my concern comes from good places. Merely establishing a new organization does nothing without the proper mandate and authorities. A new organization means nothing if the people being funneled in bring the same systemic culture and mentalities that created the current environment.

We have seen similar struggles across the world. I like to use Australia as an example. They have long struggled even after years of centralization. Their centralized system has been torn down, reformed, and reworked time and time again trying to get it right.

My concern comes from there, that we could fall into the same trap, the same vicious cycle. I am still concerned, don't get me wrong. There are still no real results to go off of. However, stuff like this is a win in my books, and goes to show to me that there is work being done, and that there is a desire to achieve results.

It's the early wins that the DIA needs to start winning me over at least! My hope is that AEWC can move just as quickly. That's now both space projects under the fledgling DIA that have had contracts awarded, both in the same week. That's impressive in my books, for us downright astronomical in timeframes.

It's still very early but no matter what I am very happy. Space is one area I wanted to see focused on and prioritized. It is one of those critical areas I wanted to see tackled. They're going at that with the speed and aggression beyond what I would have seen as acceptable. Maybe my expectations were low, but I still find this recent work excellent.

If the DIA wanted to make Noah happy, they are so far exceeding beyond expectations.