Under a memorandum of understanding, the Ottawa-based firm will spend $1.6 billion to manufacture parts and run its Lightspeed low-Earth orbit (LEO) network in the province. Telesat has also selected Brampton, Ont.-headquartered MDA to make antennas for the satellites. (The Logic)

Talking point: Telesat awarded a US$3-billion contract to European manufacturer Thales Alenia Space (TAS) to build the Lightspeed devices last week. The first 13 of 298 satellites will be built at the existing TAS facility in Toulouse, France, CEO Hervé Derrey told reporters at the time, but the contractor will now also set up a plant in Quebec. Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg said the company’s capital investment for Lightspeed will total US$5 billion. In addition to Quebec’s cash injection, the company is also receiving $85 million from the federal Strategic Innovation Fund, and has a $600-million agreement with Ottawa for capacity on the network. Meanwhile, MDA is leading an $11-million-plus project partly focused on satellite assembly and testing, backed by the federally-funded Next Generation Manufacturing Canada supercluster.