Telesat invests US$5 million in Farcast to develop fully integrated User Terminals for Telesat Lightspeed satellite network
OTTAWA and SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Telesat (Nasdaq and TSX:TSAT), one of the world's largest and most innovative satellite operators, today announced an expanded relationship with Farcast, a San Francisco-based startup that is building advanced satellite User Terminals. Under the new agreement, Farcast will deliver an enterprise-class Flat Panel Antenna (FPA) User Terminal that is fully integrated with the Telesat Lightspeed modem and ready for volume production. Additionally, Telesat is making a US$5 million equity investment in Farcast and will take a seat on Farcast's board of directors to support the company's alignment with the goals of the Telesat Lightspeed program.
Farcast has developed a unique technology that can simultaneously transmit and receive data from the same aperture in an FPA. This proprietary Active Electronically Scanned Antenna (AESA) technology uses electronic beam scanning to compensate for the movement of satellites and users, and the single-aperture, full-duplex FPA results in reduced Size, Weight, Power, and Cost (SWaP-C). This competitive SWaP-C will further enhance the value proposition for Telesat Lightspeed customers, delivering superior enterprise-class performance worldwide.
Telesat and Farcast have worked together since 2022 on a pre-production development program to ensure Farcast's technology reaches the maturity level required to operate on the Telesat Lightspeed network. As a prerequisite for this new agreement and equity investment with Telesat LEO ULC, various iterations of the hardware have been built and successfully tested. The availability of terminals that are fully integrated with Telesat Lightspeed modem is planned for 2027.
"Throughout prototype development, we've seen firsthand Farcast's innovative approach to extending satellite communications capability and reach through small form factor FPAs that deliver outstanding performance," said Michel Forest, Chief Technology Officer for Telesat. "We see value not only in what Farcast can provide for Telesat's telecom and enterprise customers, but also the wider satellite industry for mass-produced, high-performing terminals, including aviation and defence applications."
"Our collaboration with Telesat has been a cornerstone of our journey to date. By working hand in hand, we are developing FPA technology that will meet the stringent performance and reliability requirements to ensure mission-critical connectivity for Telesat's customers," said Siamak Ebadi, founder and CEO of Farcast. "We believe partnerships like this are vital to creating an open, collaborative satellite ecosystem—one that drives innovation and expands access."
About Telesat
Backed by a legacy of engineering excellence, reliability and industry-leading customer service, Telesat (Nasdaq and TSX:TSAT) is one of the largest and most innovative global satellite operators. Telesat works collaboratively with its customers to deliver critical connectivity solutions that tackle the world's most complex communications challenges, providing powerful advantages that improve their operations and drive profitable growth.
Continuously innovating to meet the connectivity demands of the future, Telesat Lightspeed, the company's state-of-the-art Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network, has been optimized to meet the rigorous requirements of telecom, government, maritime and aeronautical customers. Telesat Lightspeed will redefine global satellite connectivity with ubiquitous, affordable, high-capacity, secure and resilient links with fibre-like speeds. For updates on Telesat, follow us on LinkedIn, X, or visit www.telesat.com.
About Farcast
Farcast is a San Francisco-based technology company founded in 2019, specializing in high-performance satellite communication user terminals engineered for optimal SWaP-C (Size, Weight, Power, and Cost) efficiency. Developed through years of close collaboration with leading industry partners, Farcast's terminals are purpose-built to meet real-world operational and network demands while enabling scalable deployment across diverse markets.
By cultivating deep relationships across the satellite ecosystem and designing its products for broad interoperability, Farcast consolidates demand from a wide range of customers—unlocking production volumes that drive significant cost efficiencies. With development and pre-production phases successfully completed, the company is now entering its production ramp in 2026, with full-scale manufacturing slated for 2027.
To date, Farcast has secured $13.6 million in funding across its pre-seed, seed, and Series A rounds. It is currently raising a $10 million Series Extension aimed at strategic investors, which will bring total funding to over $23 million and support its transition into commercial manufacturing.
Media Contacts:
W2 Communications for Telesat
[email protected]
Siamak Ebadi for Farcast
[email protected]
Telesat Forward-Looking Statements Safe Harbor
This news release contains statements that are not based on historical fact and are "forward-looking statements'' and "forward looking information" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws. When used herein, statements which are not historical in nature, or which contain the words "will," "can," "ensure," "planned" or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements. In addition, Telesat or its representatives have made or may make forward-looking statements, provide forward looking information, orally or in writing, which may be included in, but are not limited to, various filings made from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and Canadian securities regulatory authorities, and news releases or oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer of Telesat. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements made in this news release are made only as of the date set forth at the beginning of this news release. Telesat undertakes no obligation to update the statements made in this news release in the event facts or circumstances subsequently change after the date of this news release.
These forward-looking statements and this forward looking information are not guarantees of future performance, are based on Telesat's current expectations, and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties assumptions, and other factors, some of which are beyond Telesat's control, are difficult to predict, and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements and forward looking information.
Known risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: risks associated with financial factors, including swings in the global financial markets, access to capital to construct our LEO satellite constellation and refinance our GEO debt, volatility of securities values in an industry sector where values may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond Telesat's control, inflation, rising or prolonged elevated interest rates, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, and tariffs; risks associated with operating satellites and providing satellite services, including satellite construction or launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit failures, impaired satellite performance or dependence on large customers; the ability to deploy successfully an advanced global LEO satellite constellation and the timing of any such deployment; Telesat's ability to meet the conditions for advance of the loans under the funding agreements for the constellation; technological hurdles, including Telesat's and Telesat's contractors' development and deployment of the new technologies required to complete the constellation in time to meet Telesat's schedule, or at all; the availability of services and components from Telesat's and Telesat's contractors' supply chains; competition, including with other LEO systems, deployed and yet to be deployed; risks associated with domestic and foreign government regulation, including government restrictions and regulations, access to sufficient orbital spectrum to be able to deliver services effectively and access to sufficient geographic markets in which to sell those services; Telesat's ability to develop significant commercial and operational capabilities; and the ability to expand Telesat's existing satellite utilization. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors should review the other risk factors discussed in Telesat Corporation's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024 that was filed on March 27, 2025 with the SEC and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval+ ("SEDAR+"), and may be accessed on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and SEDAR+'s website at www.sedarplus.ca.
