Telesat is racing a December debt deadline while Ottawa keeps pouring public money into its Lightspeed network as a Canadian alternative to Starlink. The same company that won a multi-billion-dollar Arctic military satellite contract earlier this year now has about US$1.71 billion coming due on December 6.
Chief executive Dan Goldberg told investors on Thursday that advisers are still talking to the company’s older-satellite creditors and looking at other paths, aiming for a result that works for everyone involved.
The Globe and Mail reported that the Ottawa-based operator is weighing a range of alternatives ahead of that repayment date, with another US$438 million of debt maturing in 2027. The loans sit at a Telesat Canada subsidiary tied to the company’s geostationary fleet, an older division that is shrinking as customers move on.
“Our advisers continue to seek good-faith engagement with the Telesat geo debt holders, and we’re evaluating other alternatives as well, with the goal of reaching an outcome that’s fair to all stakeholders,” Goldberg said on the third-quarter conference call, according to The Globe and Mail. He declined to spell out those options, saying the company is “pretty constrained in terms of what we can say at this time.”
According to earlier Globe reporting cited in the same piece, lenders including Silver Point Capital, GoldenTree Asset Management and Sound Point Capital Management put a proposal to Telesat on October 14. That plan centres on a $1.7-billion equity-rights offering and a $1.5-billion loan.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been clear that Canada wants off Starlink. In September he said the country will “diversify away from” the SpaceX service, “no question,” as part of a wider push to cut strategic dependence on a single foreign supplier.
Federal support for Lightspeed already runs into the billions. Ottawa and Quebec finalized $2.54 billion in loans for the low-Earth-orbit network in 2024, and Telesat now has more than $5 billion in federal loans and contracts behind it.
SpaceX still sits at the centre of the launch plan. Telesat booked Falcon 9 flights to launch Lightspeed satellites, including the extra Arctic satellites in the military deal, so Canada’s Starlink rival still needs Elon Musk’s rockets to reach orbit.
Telesat posted a net loss of $157.2 million for the three months ended September 30, The Globe and Mail reported, as revenue fell to $80.6 million from $101.1 million a year earlier. The company blamed a broadcast contract that was not renewed, a broadcast customer that cut capacity, reduced service to a North American broadband customer, and the removal of some geostationary satellites from service.
Separately, Telesat was promoted in the Canada Investment Summit prospectus circulated to global funds last month, and in August it announced the Arctic connectivity contract for the Canadian Armed Forces. Lightspeed is still years from full commercial service, with global operations previously pegged around early 2028.
That leaves a tight window. Taxpayers are already deep into Lightspeed as both lender and anchor customer, while the older GEO debt clock runs toward December 6 and Goldberg says he cannot say much more in public.
Should Ottawa keep backing Telesat this hard while the company’s own debt talks remain unresolved?
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