Telesat (NASDAQ and TSX: TSAT), one of the world’s largest and most
innovative satellite operators, today announced that Michel Forest
will be its new Chief Technology Officer following the retirement
of David Wendling at the end of February 2025. In this role, Mr.
Forest will report to Dan Goldberg, Telesat’s President and CEO,
and oversee Telesat’s satellite operations, satellite and systems
engineering, launch activities and program management.
Serving most recently as Telesat’s Vice President of LEO System
Engineering, Mr. Forest has been leading the end-to-end
architecture and system performance of the advanced Telesat
Lightspeed constellation. Prior to his decade-long career at
Telesat, he held leadership positions in satellite systems and
antenna engineering at MDA Space.
“Michel has a strong track record of leading the development of
innovative solutions and delivering exceptional results to optimize
the performance, reliability and cost of Telesat’s satellite
assets,” stated Dan Goldberg. “I have great confidence in Michel’s
leadership, expertise and vision in supporting our global customer
base and executing on the Telesat Lightspeed program.”
“I am honored to succeed Dave as Telesat’s Chief Technology
Officer and thank him for his years of leadership and mentorship
throughout my career with the company,” said Michel Forest. “I am
excited for the bright future ahead as we execute on the Telesat
Lightspeed program and our vision to redefine space-based
connectivity throughout the world.”
With regard to Wendling’s departure, Goldberg added, “In his
nearly 40-year stellar career with Telesat, Dave has been the
driving force of technical innovation at the company, resulting in
several satellite industry firsts and the state-of-the-art design
of Telesat Lightspeed. All of us at Telesat are deeply grateful for
Dave’s outstanding contributions, dedication and leadership.”
“It has been my honor to work with the brightest minds in the
satellite industry during my tenure at Telesat and help create a
culture of engineering excellence that drives continual
innovation,” said David Wendling. “It’s a pivotal time at Telesat
and Michel is the right leader to take charge of the Telesat
Lightspeed program to deliver revolutionary capabilities to our
customers.”
Also announced today, Asit Tandon is joining Telesat in the role
of Chief Network and Information Officer, reporting to Goldberg. In
this role, Mr. Tandon will be responsible for the terrestrial
elements of the Telesat Lightspeed network, including Network
Operations systems, the Network Operations Center, facilities,
program management and customer fulfillment, and network and
corporate IT systems.
Mr. Tandon brings deep expertise from a distinguished career in
planning, deploying and operating telecom networks. He was most
recently the Vice President of Network Technology at Rogers
Communications, where he was responsible for the technology
development, design, engineering and operations of wireline access
and core networks. Previously, Mr. Tandon held leadership roles in
Network Operations at Hutchison-3 Indonesia, Bharti Airtel and
Siemens Ltd. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree from
Delhi college of Engineering.
“I’m excited to welcome Asit to our senior leadership team,
where he will play a crucial role in building and integrating
best-in-class technical operations systems and worldwide facilities
that will be essential elements of the Telesat Lightspeed network,”
stated Goldberg. “Asit’s deep expertise and global experience will
be invaluable as we execute on our ambitious growth plans.”
“I am thrilled to join Telesat at such a pivotal time of growth
and innovation,” said Asit Tandon. “Telesat has a proven 55-year
track record of revolutionizing satellite connectivity, and I look
forward to leveraging my extensive network expansion experience to
advance global operational excellence and service delivery in the
fast-growing global broadband connectivity market.”
About Telesat
Backed by a legacy of engineering excellence, reliability and
industry-leading customer service, Telesat (NASDAQ and TSX: TSAT)
is one of the largest and most innovative global satellite
operators. Telesat works collaboratively with its customers to
deliver critical connectivity solutions that tackle the world’s
most complex communications challenges, providing powerful
advantages that improve their operations and drive profitable
growth.
Continuously innovating to meet the connectivity demands of the
future, Telesat Lightspeed, the company’s state-of-the-art Low
Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network, has been optimized to meet the
rigorous requirements of telecom, government, maritime and
aeronautical customers. Telesat Lightspeed will redefine global
satellite connectivity with ubiquitous, affordable, high-capacity,
secure and resilient links with fibre-like speeds. For updates on
Telesat, follow us on LinkedIn, X, or visit www.telesat.com.
Media Contact:W2 Communications for
Telesattelesat@w2comm.com
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 and
Canadian securities laws. When used herein, statements which are
not historical in nature, or which contain the words “will,”
“ensures” or similar expressions, are forward-looking statements.
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. All statements made
in this press release are made only as of the date set forth at the
beginning of this release. Telesat Corporation undertakes no
obligation to update the information made in this release in the
event facts or circumstances subsequently change after the date of
this press release.
These forward-looking statements are based on Telesat
Corporation’s current expectations and are subject to a number of
risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These statements are not
guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks,
uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Telesat
Corporation’s control, are difficult to predict, and could cause
actual results to differ materially from those expressed or
forecasted in the forward-looking statements. There are numerous
risks and uncertainties associated with Telesat’s business and the
Telesat Lightspeed constellation. Known risks and uncertainties
include but are not limited to: inflation and rising interest
rates; Telesat’s ability to meet the funding conditions of its
funding agreements with the Government of Canada and Government of
Quebec; technological hurdles, including our and our contractors’
development and deployment of the new technologies required to
complete the constellation in time to meet our schedule, or at all;
the availability of services and components from our and our
contractors’ supply chains; competition; risks associated with
domestic and foreign government regulation, including access to
sufficient orbital spectrum to be able to deliver services
effectively and access to sufficient geographic markets in which to
sell those services; Telesat’s ability to develop significant
commercial and operational capabilities; risks associated with
operating satellites and providing satellite services, including
satellite construction or launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit
failures or impaired satellite performance; and volatility in
exchange rates. The foregoing list of important factors is not
exhaustive. Investors should review the other risk factors
discussed in Telesat Corporation’s annual report on Form 20-F for
the year ended December 31, 2023, that was filed on March 28, 2024,
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)
and the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at the System
for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”), and may
be accessed on the SEC’s website at https://www.sec.gov/ and
SEDAR’s website at https://www.sedarplus.ca/ as well as our
subsequent reports on Form 6-K filed with the SEC and also
available on SEDAR.
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