A company with significant ownership by the governments of France and the U.K. is proposing a plan to the Canadian government for a project valued at around $250 million. The project aims to enhance the military’s access to secure satellite broadband coverage in the Arctic region, as reported by CBC News. Eutelsat, a competitor to Elon Musk’s Starlink, is already offering some services to the Canadian military and seeks to strengthen this partnership. This initiative comes as Canada aims to broaden its defense contracts beyond U.S. suppliers.
The proposal suggests Canada’s Department of National Defence collaborating with Eutelsat under a French Ministry of Defence initiative. French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly discussed this proposal with Prime Minister Mark Carney during the G7 summit in Alberta last year. The prime minister’s initial inquiry, as per Eutelsat and French defense officials, focused on the potential impact on Telesat Corporation, a former Canadian Crown corporation now in the process of developing its Lightspeed system, a constellation of satellites for high-speed broadband.
Eutelsat, in conjunction with Canadian partners, already operates a satellite network, supporting the Canadian military in Latvia. David van Dyke, Eutelsat’s General Manager for Canada, highlighted the company’s capability to offer Canada a “sovereign capacity capability,” ensuring Canada’s ownership of satellite capacity in needed regions, free from the influence of any singular entity that might disrupt services for political reasons. Van Dyke referenced an incident involving Starlink in Ukraine, where service interruptions occurred during a critical military operation.
While Starlink has been a prominent provider of broadband internet in Canada’s northern regions, recent developments have led to a decline in enthusiasm for the service. Ontario, dissatisfied with U.S. tariffs, canceled a significant contract with Starlink. Eutelsat, with substantial contracts with the U.S. government, is positioning itself as a reliable defense partner for Canada, emphasizing the importance of secure systems and data control.
Eutelsat’s proposal to Canada includes the assurance of reliable defense partnerships, control over secure systems and data, and support for defense projects such as radar sites and NORAD modernization. The company, with the backing of the French government, Indian multinational Bharti Space Ltd., and the U.K. government, is ready to provide the necessary satellite capacity to fulfill Canada’s defense requirements.