History of World Firsts

Telesat continually strives to provide its clients with reliable, effective, and advanced communications services. This goal has propelled Telesat to achieve dozens of firsts within the satellite industry.

From the launch of the world's first domestic commercial geostationary satellite - Anik A1 - in 1972, to the launch of Anik F2 in 2004 - the first satellite to commercialize the Ka frequency band - Telesat continues to seek innovative ways to apply its experience and expertise to its clients' advantage.

1969

Telesat Canada is incorporated by an Act of Parliament.
The name "Anik"-which means "little brother" in the Inuit language-is chosen for Telesat's first satellite following a national contest. The name symbolizes Telesat's commitment to help Canadians communicate with one another, overcoming the challenges of geography and climate.

1972

Telesat's Anik A1 satellite is launched by Delta rocket in November. Anik A1 is the world's first commercial, domestic communications satellite to operate in geostationary orbit.

1973

Commercial services start on Anik A1. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is Telesat's first customer and provides live television to the remote Canadian North for the first time, giving Canada the world's first national satellite television system.
Telesat's Anik A2 satellite is launched by Delta rocket in April.

1975

Telesat's Anik A3 satellite is launched by Delta rocket in May.

1976

Telesat establishes and implements the world's first commercial Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) system.

1978

Telesat's Anik B satellite is launched by Delta rocket. This three-axis stabilized spacecraft is the world's first domestic communications dual-band satellite, operating in both C- and Ku-bands.

1980

In August, the first transportable message terminal begins service on an oilrig off Canada 's east coast.
In September, the first commercial Ku-band service using satellite is provided by Anik B.

1981

Telesat is the world's first satellite operator to collocate two satellites—Anik A2 and A3—in a single orbital slot (within 0.1°, at 114° West Longitude) to increase satellite capacity from that location.

1982

Anik A1 is retired in July, exceeding its seven-year design life by 2.8 years.
August - Anik D1 is launched by Delta rocket.
November - Anik C3 is launched on the first commercial flight of NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia.

1983

June - Anik C2 is deployed from the Space Shuttle Challenger by astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.

1984

September - Imperial Oil becomes the first Canadian business with a private network for interbranch communications via satellite.
November - Anik D2 is launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery.

1985

April - Anik C1 is launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery.

1986

October - the contract to construct Telesat's fifth generation of satellites (Anik E) is awarded to Spar Aerospace. The Anik E spacecraft will be the largest dual-band, three-axis commercial satellites built to date.

1988

February - Telesat transmits over 3,000 hours of television programming at the Winter Olympics in Calgary. Telesat also builds mini-teleports at Canmore and Nakiska, allowing broadcasters to transmit live television coverage of the Nordic and downhill ski events from these two remote sites to viewers around the world.
December - Telesat moves into its new corporate headquarters, located in Gloucester (now Ottawa), Ontario.

1989

July - Telesat switches satellite monitoring and control to its new, advanced satellite control facility, which took five years to develop and construct. The satellite control centre is located in Telesat's new headquarters building.

1991

April - Anik E2 is launched using a dedicated Ariane 4 launch vehicle from the Arianespace launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.
July - Anik E2 C-band reflector is successfully deployed.
September - Anik E1 is launched using a dedicated Ariane 4 launch vehicle.
December - Anik D1 is retired having exceeded its design life by over a year.
December - Anik D2 is sold to GE Americom.
December 13 - the Telesat Canada Reorganization and Divestiture Act is proclaimed by the Government of Canada. This Act provides the mechanism for the Government to sell its 53 percent interest in Telesat.

1992

March - the Government of Canada announces its decision to sell its interest in Telesat Canada to Alouette Telecommunications Inc.
Telesat undertakes a market trial of digital video compression (DVC) with First Choice Movie Channel and several other Canadian cable companies. DVC is an emerging technology that significantly reduces the bandwidth required to transmit broadcast-quality television signals.
September - Telesat begins a market trial of a new Telephony Earth Station (TES) service in Canada. Designed for organizations that operate in hard-to-reach areas, the service provides high-quality digital voice and data communication.
Telesat emerges as the largest operator of interactive Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) systems in Canada. VSAT offers communications solutions that lower customer costs and provide reliable services to locations in Canada and the United States.

1993

January - Telesat's Board of Directors appoint Laurier (Larry) J. Boisvert as President and Chief Operating Officer.
Anik C1 and C2 are sold to Paracom S.A. to form part of Argentina 's first Ku-band domestic satellite communications system. Telesat operates the satellites from its Ottawa headquarters on behalf of Argentina.
February - Anik D2 is sold to ARABSAT to augment their current satellite communications system by providing C-band services throughout the Middle East. Operating the satellite on ARABSAT's behalf, Telesat uses a modified tracking system in Tunisia and backhauls the data to its headquarters via Intelsat.
Telesat provides transfer orbit services to Hughes for the Astra 1C mission. This is the first mission supported by Telesat using telemetry frequencies below 11.7 GHz.
A record number of VSATs are installed, making Telesat the fourth largest shared hub operator in the world.

1994

June - Telesat engineers earn international recognition for recovering the Anik E1 and E2 satellites after an electromagnetic solar storm causes system failures on both satellites on January 20th. Telesat's top priorities were finding alternative capacity for its customers within hours and recovering the satellites. E1 was back in full operation in just a few hours. The more challenging recovery of E2 required Telesat engineers to develop and implement a sophisticated Ground Loop Attitude Control System (GLACS), which successfully restored E2 to full operation.
August - Motorola awards Telesat a multi-year contract to design and construct three telemetry, tracking, and command facilities as part of the *IRIDIUM® communications system.
*IRIDIUM is a registered trademark and service mark of Iridium, Inc.
December - Telesat signs a $45 million Anikom Access agreement with Bell Canada to improve services to 27 northern communities in Ontario and Quebec using Telephony Earth Stations.

1995

September - Telesat launches the *DirecPC TM service within Canada - a multimedia, direct-to-PC service that delivers high-speed Internet access, live video feeds, software, and training applications to a 20" (51 cm) satellite antenna over a 12 megabits-per-second satellite link.
*DirecPC is a trademark of Hughes Network Systems, Inc.
The Ford Motor Company uses VSAT to help launch its Fordstar Network-a satellite service that allows Ford to communicate with its 645 dealerships across the country.
Telesat introduces standard digital video compression (DVC) services in both the C- and Ku-bands. This new service offers cost-effective video and audio using the international standard MPEG II video technology. Telesat provides DVC out of its Toronto and Montreal Teleports in both frequency bands and out of its Edmonton Teleport in Ku-band.

1996

March 26 - The Anik E1 satellite experiences a short circuit in its power system, reducing the satellite's total power by 50 per cent, thereby decreasing its channel capacity.
April 20 - TMI Communications launches its mobile satellite (MSAT) from Kourou, French Guiana. Telesat directs the launch and conducts the transfer orbit. Telesat will also operate the satellite throughout its expected 12-year life.
July - Telesat's Special Assembly Earth Stations and Transfer Orbit Services product lines receive ISO 9001 certification.

1997

January - Telesat signs a major contract with Hughes Space & Communications to provide a Telesat-developed Flight Dynamics System to control the orbits of Hughes-built satellites. Hughes is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites.
March - Larry Boisvert, President and CEO of Telesat Canada, takes on additional responsibility as President and CEO for TMI Communications.
April - Following a competitive process, the Federal government announces its approval of Telesat's plan to build and launch Canada 's first high-power Direct Broadcast Satellite. The new satellite will carry direct-to-home satellite television to Canadians from coast to coast.
November - Telesat celebrates the 25th anniversary of the launch of the historic Anik A1 satellite. To commemorate the occasion, the company announces a national contest to name Canada 's first Direct Broadcast Satellite.
November - The federal government allocates orbital slots to Telesat for its new Anik F satellites. Anik F1 is scheduled for launch in 2000, and Anik F2 will be launched shortly thereafter.

1998

March - Telesat signs an agreement with Hughes Space & Communications International for the construction of its Anik F1 satellite. The F1 satellite will be a 15-kilowatt HS 702 model spacecraft; and is to be launched in 2000 from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 44 L launch vehicle.
April - After receiving nearly 40,000 suggestions from coast to coast in its National Satellite Contest, Telesat announces that Canada's first DBS satellite will carry the name "Nimiq," an Inuit word for any object or force that unites things or binds them together. Sheila Rogers, a physiotherapist from Nepean, Ontario, submitted the winning name.
May - BCE Inc. increased its majority stake in Telesat to 100 percent by acquiring all outstanding common shares in Alouette Telecommunications Inc.

1999

May 20 - Telesat's Nimiq 1 satellite is launched by Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The primary customer on Nimiq 1, Bell ExpressVu, will use the satellite to enhance its direct-to-home television service across Canada, broadcasting to an 18-inch (46 cm) dish.
September - Telesat strengthens its presence in the U.S. satellite services market by signing a three-year service contract with IBM. Under the agreement, Telesat will maintain and support all hardware components of the FORDSTART Network-a VSAT satellite-based network that links 5,500 Ford dealerships in the United States.
Telesat is awarded a contract with Ford Motor Company to re-point satellite antennas and manage facility upgrades at 6,000 Ford dealerships in Canada and the United States.
December - Telesat's Anik E1 and E2 satellites earn the historic distinction of becoming the first non-U.S. satellites to be placed on the Federal Communications Commission's Permitted Space Station list. This inclusion lets U.S. customers use Telesat satellites for services liberalized under a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement.

2000

January - Telesat is awarded a 15-year contract with Washington, DC-based XM Satellite Radio Inc. to manage the satellite operations and associated infrastructure of a new US radio service scheduled for launch in early 2001.
March - Telesat and Denver-based WildBlue (formerly iSKY) finalize a deal valued at more than US$200 million. Under the terms of the deal, Telesat will receive a combination of cash and an ownership stake in WildBlue in exchange for WildBlue's rights to use Ka-band multimedia capacity on Telesat's Anik F2 satellite.
April - Telesat and industry partners COM DEV of Cambridge, Ontario, and EMS Technologies of Ste. Anne De Bellevue, Quebec, join the Canadian Space Agency in announcing a $109 million initiative to bring satellite multimedia services to Canadians. These services will be provided using a state-of-the-art digital payload onboard Telesat's Anik F2 satellite, scheduled for launch in mid 2004.
April - Telesat authorizes Hughes Space & Communications (now a part of the Boeing Company) to proceed with the construction of Anik F2, a highly advanced communications satellite that will carry broadcasting, telecommunications, and multimedia services to customers across North America. The new satellite is scheduled for launch in mid 2004.
November 21 - Telesat launches Anik F1, its next generation and sixth series of FSS satellites. Equipped with 48 Ku-band transponders and 36 in C-band, Telesat's Anik F1 will serve both North and South America, meeting the telecommunications needs of broadcasters, governments, corporations, and small businesses today and well into the future.

2001

January - Telesat acquires 100 percent common shares ownership of Infosat Communications, Inc. from BCE Media Inc. Infosat is a full-service provider of satellite-based voice, fax, paging, and data communications. The announcement consolidates these key BCE-owned satellite services operations under Telesat.
June 21 - the Government of Canada approves Telesat's proposal to design, build, and launch a new communications satellite to serve the country from Canada 's orbital position at 118.7 degrees West.
June 28 - Telesat selects Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems to start construction of a new direct broadcast satellite (DBS), Nimiq 2, scheduled to begin service in early 2003. Telesat also concludes an agreement with Bell ExpressVu for capacity on the new satellite.
September - In partnership with IBM and Hughes Network Systems, Telesat is awarded a contract to provide high-speed, satellite-based communications to the Ford Motor Company's Ford and Lincoln-Mercury Dealers throughout North America. A new broadband solution is developed to enable dealers to transmit large data files using Internet protocol.

2002

April - Telesat launches the first high-speed business Internet service in North America. The new Telesat High Speed Internet service lets users across all 50 U.S. states and all 13 Canadian provinces and territories to take advantage of two-way high-speed Internet access. The service is offered in partnership with Spacenet Inc., a subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.
December 29 - Telesat's second direct broadcast satellite, Nimiq 2, is successfully launched on a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Nimiq 2 will provide its customer, Bell ExpressVu, with a platform to expand direct-to-home programming. The satellite also has a small Ka-band payload to support and facilitate new developments in Internet services and emerging multimedia opportunities.

2003

Feburary - Telesat signs a contract with Astrium, Europe 's largest space company, for a new satellite to replace Anik F1. Anik F1R will be launched in 2005, ensuring continuity of telecommunications, broadcasting, and Internet services for its customers.
May 1 - Telesat assumes control of Mobile Satellite Venture's (MSV's) MSAT-2 satellite and now operates both North American mobile communications satellites.
May 5 - Telesat decommissions the Anik C1 satellite, one of the world's longest-serving communication satellites. Built by Hughes Aircraft Corporation with an anticipated nine-year life, Telesat operated the satellite throughout its entire lifetime of 18 years and 23 days.
June - Flight Dynamics System Software becomes Telesat's third product line to receive ISO 9001 certification.
December 1 - Telesat takes over direct management of its VSAT maintenance business throughout the United States. In preparation for this expansion, the company opened a new facility in Macomb, Michigan , and entered into on-call contracts with over 500 U.S.-based field service representatives. Telesat provides service to more than 20,000 VSAT North American locations, of which 13,400 of which are located in the U.S.
December - the Canadian government approves Telesat's proposal to design and build a new direct broadcast satellite and launch it into Canada 's orbital position at 72.5° WL.

2004

March - Passengers sent and received e-mail messages over a virtual private network during a regular commercial flight aboard the first of the airliners equipped with the latest Connexion by Boeing equipment. The aircraft started its North Atlantic flight in the coverage area of a Eutelsat satellite and fed its signal to the satellite gateway at Leuk, Switzerland. Somewhere over Greenland, the connection switched to Telesat's Anik E2 satellite, feeding the signal to a gateway in Littleton, Colorado .
July 17 - Telesat launches Anik F2, the world's largest commercial communications satellite and the first to fully commercialize the Ka frequency band-a breakthrough satellite communications technology for delivering cost-effective, two-way broadband services.

2005

January - Telesat acquires California-based The SpaceConnection, Inc., a leading provider of programming-related satellite transmission services to all the major U.S. television networks and cable programmers.
May - Telesat successfully launches its new two-way satellite broadband service, which operates in the Ka-band on the Anik F2 satellite. The new service delivers always-on, always-ready, high-speed Internet connectivity, anywhere in Canada.
September 8 - Telesat's Anik F1R satellite is successfully launched on a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite provides valuable capacity for Canadian direct-to-home satellite television, along with a range of other telecommunications and broadcasting services. The spacecraft also carries a navigation payload that enhances the global positioning system used in aviation across Canada and the United States --making North American air navigation safer and more reliable than ever before.

2006

March - Canadian Coast Guard selects Telesat to design, supply, commission and operate a satellite-based digital communications system for selected vessels in their fleet, to provide e-mail applications, voice-over-IP capability and Canadian satellite television.
September - Daniel S. Goldberg appointed new President and CEO of Telesat. Goldberg, formerly President and CEO of SES New Skies, succeeds Larry Boisvert who retired after nearly 34 years of service, the last 13 years as President and CEO.
September - Telesat Holding Inc. and its shareholder, BCE Inc., filed a preliminary prospectus and a registration statement for an initial public offering of non-voting shares of Telesat Holding Inc., in Canada and the United States.
December - BCE Inc. agreed to sell Telesat for USD 3.42 billion to a new acquisition company formed by Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. As part of the transaction, Loral will contribute to the new company the FSS and network services assets of its Loral Skynet subsidiary. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions. Dan Goldberg will remain President and CEO in the new company.

2007

April 9 - Telesat's Anik F3 satellite is successfully launched on a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite provides a wide range of broadcasting, business communications, and Internet services to users across North America.