Press Releases

Expected to Launch Late 2015

New state-of-the-art satellite, called Telstar 12 VANTAGE, will optimize and expand coverage from Telesat’s 15 West orbital slot

OTTAWA, CANADA, September 9, 2013 – Telesat, a leading global satellite operator, has procured a powerful, multi-mission satellite from Astrium that will replace Telesat’s Telstar 12 satellite at 15 degrees West while significantly expanding coverage of growing markets in South America, the Atlantic and EMEA region. The new state-of-the-art satellite, called Telstar 12 VANTAGE, will utilize a combination of broad regional beams and more focused high throughput spot beams to increase capacity and offer superior performance for broadband networks on the ground, in the air and at sea. By using Ku-band across all coverage beams, Telstar 12 VANTAGE will be fully backwards compatible with existing Ku-band terminal equipment.

Telesat engineers set out to design a next generation Telstar satellite with improved coverage and flexibility to meet the growing communications needs of broadcast, corporate, government and enterprise users, including demand for aero and maritime services. The result is Telstar 12 VANTAGE, a completely new Telesat satellite that will deliver the capacity needed to support the types of bandwidth intensive applications increasingly being used across the industry.

From its central orbital location of 15 degrees West, Telstar 12 VANTAGE will provide coverage of the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In addition to optimizing coverage of the regions now served by Telstar 12, Telstar 12 VANTAGE provides new, high capacity coverage of Brazil and East Africa and builds on Telesat’s leading position in mobility and energy services with new coverage of the Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Atlantic and North Sea.

“Telstar 12 at 15 degrees West has long been valued by the satellite user community for its continental coverage and ability to seamlessly connect the Americas to Europe and the Middle East,” said Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO. “Now with Telstar 12 VANTAGE, our customers will have access to a combination of broad regional coverage and high throughput beams to support the increased use of more bandwidth intensive applications. Telstar 12 VANTAGE continues Telesat’s long tradition of outstanding innovation and provides our customers with the competitive advantage they require to compete successfully in the markets they serve.”

Telstar 12 VANTAGE will have a 15 year design life and provide up to 52 Ku-band 36 MHz transponder equivalents.

About Telesat (www.telesat.com)

Telesat is a leading global satellite operator, providing reliable and secure satellite-delivered communications solutions worldwide to broadcast, telecom, corporate and government customers. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices and facilities around the world, the company’s state-of-the-art fleet consists of 14 satellites and the Canadian payload on ViaSat-1 with another satellite under construction. Telesat also manages the operations of additional satellites for third parties. Privately held, Telesat’s principal shareholders are Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Loral Space & Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: LORL).

Forward-Looking Statements Safe Harbor

This news release contains statements that are not based on historical fact and are ‘‘forward-looking statements’’ within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words “expected”, “will”, or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Detailed information about some of the known risks and uncertainties is included in the “Risk Factors” section of Telesat Holdings Inc.’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 as well as Telesat’s other filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which can be obtained on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Known risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: risks associated with operating satellites and providing satellite services, including satellite construction or launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit failures or impaired satellite performance, volatility in exchange rates and risks associated with domestic and foreign government regulation. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. The information contained in this news release reflects Telesat’s beliefs, assumptions, intentions, plans and expectations as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, Telesat disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise the information herein.

For further information:                                                                               

Gerry Nagler, Telesat +1 908 470-4907 (gnagler@telesat.com)