Telesat, one of the world’s largest and most innovative satellite operators, today announced its LEO 3 demonstration satellite was successfully launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. LEO 3 was one of seven satellites in the rideshare mission launched from Mahia, New Zealand.

The LEO 3 satellite, built by Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), features Ka- and V-band payloads and will provide continuity for customer and ecosystem vendor testing campaigns following the decommissioning of Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite. Separation of the LEO 3 satellite from the Electron rocket occurred 106 minutes after liftoff.  Having achieved signal acquisition, solar arrays deployment, and successfully passing initial satellite health tests, SFL and Telesat are now testing the full satellite.

“I’d like to thank our valued partners Rocket Lab and SFL for their flawless execution on the LEO 3 mission,” stated Dave Wendling, Telesat’s Chief Technical Officer. “We’re eager to get LEO 3 operational and resume important customer and vendor testing campaigns with next-generation terminals and modems in advance of our Telesat Lightspeed network deployment.”