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Daniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat Daniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat <\/p>\nDaniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat, joins BNN Bloomberg’s Lindsay Biscaia live from the Canada Investment Summit. <\/p>\n
Canada\u2019s space sector is seeking global investment as it builds advanced communications infrastructure and expands its international reach. Industry leaders see the Canada Investment Summit as an opportunity to attract both financial and strategic partners.<\/p>\n
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Daniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat, about the investor response to the company\u2019s pitch and the benefits that foreign capital could bring to Canada.<\/p>\n
Key TakeawaysTelesat says its $7-billion Lightspeed constellation is fully funded, but additional capital could support further investment. The company plans to begin launching Lightspeed satellites next year and expects global coverage in early 2028. The network is being developed as an alternative to Starlink for defence, aviation, maritime and telecommunications customers. Strategic investors could provide customer relationships and domestic demand in addition to capital. Satellite communications could support Canadian sovereignty, rural broadband access, employment, innovation and exports.Daniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat Daniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat <\/p>\n
Read the full transcript below:<\/p>\n
MERELLA: As Canada works to strengthen its defence capabilities, secure space-based communications are critical. So, in the pitch book for the Canada Investment Summit is a minority stake in Telesat\u2019s Lightspeed low-Earth-orbit network. BNN Bloomberg\u2019s Lindsay Biscaia spoke to Daniel Goldberg, who\u2019s president, CEO of Telesat.<\/p>\n
DANIEL: They would be buying into the opportunity to participate in this very advanced low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation that we\u2019re building. We\u2019re very bullish on the opportunity, so we\u2019re building what\u2019s an alternative to Starlink. There\u2019s no alternative to Starlink right now, and so we think that there\u2019s an enormous amount of demand for the kind of network that we\u2019re building, from defence users to airlines and cruise ship companies and mobile network operators all over the world. So, they\u2019d be buying into the opportunity to participate in that.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: Throughout this summit so far, have you been speaking to people? Like, do people sound like some investors maybe would be interested?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: I think that we came and we participated because it\u2019s a great opportunity and a very efficient opportunity to speak to some of the biggest funds and senior executives at these funds all at once, and in connection with, see, a broader story about what the government of Canada is trying to achieve. So, so in some ways, that was the focus, just to have an efficient opportunity to speak to lots of different investors. And, yeah, I think there is a lot of interest in what we\u2019re building.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: We will get to the broader story, as you just mentioned, in just a moment. But are you\u2014what kind of investor are you looking for? Like a financial investor, a strategic telecom partner?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: Yeah, I mean, I think so. I\u2019d say there are two separate things. One, so we\u2019re investing $7 billion to build this global constellation. We\u2019re fully funded, so we\u2019ve secured all the funding that we need to build the constellation. But we\u2019re in a capital-intensive business, and so there are always opportunities for us to put more capital to work. So that\u2019s, you know, sort of one area of focus. And then, remind me, Lindsay.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: Just if you were looking for a financial investor or a strategic.<\/p>\n
DANIEL: Oh, and then\u2014and then on the strategic opportunities. So, you know, attracting capital at the right cost of capital is something that we\u2019re always interested in. And then, yes, some investors are also sort of strategic investors. They might be sovereign wealth funds that need the kind of capability that we\u2019re building for their own domestic requirements. Some of these funds own airlines; they own mobile network operators. And so that would be a great investor for us as well. They bring capital, but they also bring the strategic benefits as well.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: Okay, so Lightspeed is fully funded. I was going to ask you that. Is there a valuation for a stake\u2014for the stake that you\u2019re offering?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: We haven\u2019t put out a number. I\u2019d say that\u2019s a conversation that we would have with investors.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: That would have behind closed doors. Okay, so moving on, then, as investors gather here, what\u2019s the pitch for why Canada should be investing more aggressively into satellite infrastructure and space technology in general?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: So, I think the opportunity there is pretty compelling, and I think it\u2019s resonated pretty well with the government of Canada. So, the government came out with a new defence industrial strategy last year. In that strategy, they identified what they call key sovereign capabilities. Satellite communications was one of those, and the reason I think it made the list is the way modern conflicts are unfolding. You need this kind of a capability in order to be effective. We\u2019re seeing that in Ukraine right now. We\u2019ve seen this in the Iranian conflict. So, I\u2019d say that\u2019s one. There are important strategic defence capabilities that come with having an advanced constellation like this. And then there\u2019s just broadband connectivity. Canada is a big country. There is still a digital divide. A capability like ours bridges that digital divide. So, I\u2019d say that\u2019s another important key consideration. And then, beyond that, we\u2019re creating a lot of jobs, we\u2019re innovating, we\u2019re creating a lot of intellectual property and we\u2019re exporting a lot.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: What does Telesat need at this point to become competitive with Starlink\u2014or, sorry, SpaceX when it comes to satellite communication and Starlink, I guess?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: So, what we need is to get our capability in orbit. Okay. So, we\u2019ve designed it, we\u2019ve secured the funding, we\u2019re building it, we start launching it next year and we\u2019ll have full global coverage in early 2028. That\u2019s what we need in order to go out and provide this alternative, and that\u2014that\u2019s what we\u2019re working very hard to do.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: Okay, so we\u2019re in the last day of this summit. If it\u2019s successful, what concrete outcomes would you like to see emerge in Canada\u2019s space industry over the next couple of years?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: What we would like to see is incremental investment in the kinds of capabilities that we\u2019re deploying. So, that would be one concrete capability that we are successful. We tell us that we, the government of Canada, you know, working with the government of Canada, that we bring in some important foreign investors as well, also to back the investments that we\u2019re making. For me, those will be key proof points that\u2014that this was worthwhile. And I have to say, I\u2019m optimistic that it will be.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: Okay, and why do you think it\u2019s important to have foreign investment as well?<\/p>\n
DANIEL: I think it\u2019s important to have foreign investment. One, we are building a global network, and so it\u2019s great to have support, you know, here in Canada. But I think it\u2019s an important proof point when we go around the world. It\u2019s not just Canadian capital sources that believe in the capability that we\u2019re building. So, I think that\u2019s one reason. And then, beyond that, I just think the more sources of capital you have, the more competition you have to put capital to work, which means\u2014which should mean\u2014a lower cost of capital for Canadian borrowers.<\/p>\n
LINDSAY: Okay, we got to leave it there. Daniel Goldberg, appreciate you joining us.<\/p>\n
DANIEL: Okay, thank you very much.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the Sept. 15, 2026 interview with Daniel Goldberg are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat, joins BNN Bloomberg’s Lindsay Biscaia live from the Canada Investment Summit.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":["post-898330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}