Vocus goes lightspeed with Telesat LEO partnership

Vocus has become a key part of global satellite provider Telesat’s plans for its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites launch scheduled for late 2026.

A strategic partnership between the organisations will see Vocus build and operate one of Australia’s first Telesat ground station.

“Telesat will begin launching its LEO satellites in late 2026 and this new landing station will play a key role in satellite testing and customer field trials before global service delivery,” said Telesat chief network and information officer Asit Tandon.

Vocus will construct and operate the new landing station in NSW and provide fibre connectivity to Telesat’s point of presence (PoP).

This will be one of the 30 satellite ground stations the digital infrastructure and connectivity provider has in planning or operation across the country.

It will also connect Telesat’s LEO satellite constellation, called Telesat Lightspeed, to terrestrial networks, providing secure, low-latency satellite services across the region.

The long-term agreement also includes Telesat Lightspeed services, when the network becomes operational.

The Telesat Lightspeed service features a Terminal-to-Terminal direct connectivity capability that eliminates the need for terrestrial links for customers transmitting especially sensitive information.

Head of Vocus space and wireless operations Ashley Neale said this could enable, for example, a naval vessel to communicate via the Telesat Lightspeed satellites directly with ground-deployed soldiers via the optical laser-linked space network.

“[This] completely bypassing land-based infrastructure or the public internet,” he explained. “This capability will be extremely valuable to customers with mission-critical communications requirements and a desire to preserve data sovereignty even outside of Australia’s geographic borders.”

Telesat’s chief commercial officer Glenn Katz said in addition to public networking options via Telesat’s global landing stations, its “flexible architecture” includes options for private access stations, special security add-ons.

This gives Vocus’ customers the ability “to maintain complete control over encryption, providing valuable, differentiated capabilities in their LEO portfolio,” he said.