Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil.
On October 5, 2007 Loral Space & Communications Inc. and the Public Pension Investment Board of Canada received the final regulatory approval necessary to complete the acquisition of Telesat from BCE Inc. for CAD $3.25 billion. The acquisition closed on October 31, 2007, with Loral owning 64 percent of Telesat.
At the same time, Telesat Canada merged with Loral Skynet, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications. Loral Skynet was a full-service global satellite operator headquartered in Bedminster, New Jersey. This resulted in the transfer of all of the assets of Loral Skynet to Telesat.
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The company is now the fourth-largest fixed satellite services provider in the world. It owns a fleet of 13 satellites, has one other satellite under construction, and operates 13 additional satellites for other entities.
Telesat carries Canada's two major DBS providers signals: Bell TV and Shaw Direct, as well as more than 200 of Canada's television channels.
Telesat's Anik F2 carries a 'Spot Beam' KA band payload for satellite internet access for users in the United States (Wildblue) and tens of thousands of users in Canada (Xplornet).[1][2] The KA band system uses 'Spot Beams' to manage bandwidth concerns, linking to multiple satellite ground stations connected to the internet.
Skynet’s customers included HBO, Disney, Cable & Wireless, Singapore Telecom, Connexion by Boeing, Global Crossing, BT North America, Globecomm Systems, UPC and China Central Television. These are now Telesat customers.
Loral Skynet provided a wide range of video and data transmission services. It became a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications when Loral acquired it in 1997 from AT&T.
Skynet’s fleet consists of Telstars-11N, -12, -14R(Estrela do Sul 2), and -18. In 2003, Skynet sold its North American satellite fleet (Telstars 5 through 8 and 13) to Intelsat; they were renamed Intelsat Americas 5–8 and 13. This was done to help reduce debt after its parent, Loral Space & Communications, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 15, 2003. As part of the agreement, Skynet was precluded from competing in the North American market until March 18, 2006. In June 2007, Loral Space & Communications made an unsuccessful bid to acquire Intelsat. [1]
Telesat launched Anik A1 in 1972 as the world's first domestic communications satellite in geostationary orbit, operated by a commercial company. The satellite was retired from use in 1981.
On December 18, 2006, Loral Space & Communications announced that it, along with Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), would acquire Telesat for US$2.8b.[3]
On November 17, 2010: Telesat Holding Inc. hired JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Group AG to start a formal sales process and offer so-called staple financing to interest buyers for $6 billion to $7 billion.[4]
Telesat has recently announced plans to build and launch its 20th and 21st satellites.
Telesat announced on December 30, 2009 that Nimiq 6 will be built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L). Bell TV, a Canadian satellite TV provider has agreed to fully lease this new satellite for its lifetime to serve the subscribers across Canada. Nimiq 6 will have a payload of 32 high powered Ku-band transponders. It will utilize the SS/L1300 platform and has a planned 15 year mission life. It will be launched in the middle of 2012 by International Launch Services.[5]
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