EchoStar Sellects MDA space

[Scott Greczkowski]

ECHOSTAR SELECTS MDA SPACE FOR WORLD'S FIRST OPEN RAN BROADBAND NTN LEO CONSTELLATION

The new satellite network will enable a wide range of services to consumers, enterprises and governments across the globe, ensuring U.S. leadership in direct to device (D2D) connectivity and the space economy
The wideband LEO constellation will cover all 350 million Americans including Alaska and Hawaii and over 7 billion additional people globally

Estimated total cost of EchoStar's LEO constellation is $5 billion, increasing the company's total investment in NTN satellite connectivity to over $18 billionsince 2012
​

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EchoStar Corporation (NASDAQ:SATS), a global communications and connectivity provider, selected MDA Space Ltd. (TSX:MDA), a trusted mission partner to the rapidly expanding global space industry, as the prime contractor for EchoStar's new non-terrestrial network (NTN) low Earth orbit (LEO) direct-to-device (D2D) satellite constellation. The initial contract, valued at approximately $1.3 billion (approx. C$1.8 billion) includes the design, manufacturing and testing of the first tranche of over 100 software-defined MDA AURORA™ D2D satellites.i​ The full initial configuration of the system consists of 200 satellites with future growth to thousands, as demand requires. EchoStar's LEO constellation will provide global talk, text and broadband services directly to standard 5G NTN handheld devices.

"EchoStar's Hughes communications division has over 60 years of leadership in the satellite and space technology business. Our satellite expertise combined with our U.S.-based terrestrial 5G Open RAN network uniquely positions EchoStar to execute on this new large-scale wideband LEO constellation," said Hamid Akhavan, president & CEO of EchoStar. "The market-leading technical innovation provided by MDA Space along with our global S-band/2GHz spectrum rights with the highest ITU priority, and our strong service delivery capabilities will enable us to serve the consumer, enterprise, public safety and government sectors in the U.S., Europe and beyond. Critically, this will foster U.S. leadership in the growing space economy."

"EchoStar's selection of our new MDA AURORA™ D2D software-defined satellites to meet its demanding technical and business requirements is a testament to the confidence satellite operators have in our deep expertise and products, our differentiated MDA AURORA™ product, and our expanding production capacity," said Mike Greenley, CEO of MDA Space. "This contract also demonstrates our continued market momentum as we strategically position MDA Space to be the prime contractor of choice for satellite operators in the direct-to-device and broadband connectivity."

Since 2012, EchoStar has invested well over $13 billion in the 2GHz band with the acquisition of DBSD and TerreStar, who held 2GHz FCC licenses as well as three S-band GEO satellites (one of which required expensive retrofitting). Since then, EchoStar has led the efforts to standardize the 2GHz band at 3GPP for 5G and to develop the NTN 3GPP standards. EchoStar's investment includes the acquisition, integration, deployment and operation of the 2GHz band (including the adjacent H-Block) as part of its virtualized cloud-native standalone 5G Open RAN network in the United States as well as the recent launch of three NGSO 2GHz satellites (Lyra), ground station equipment and other related activities. All of this investment goes to EchoStar's vision of a global D2D service seamlessly integrated with terrestrial connectivity to everyone.

Today, EchoStar holds exclusive licenses in the 2GHz band in the United States(AWS-4) and is authorized to provide MSS services via satellite over this spectrum. It also holds 30 MHz of 2GHz licenses in Europe; 40 MHz in Canadathrough a long-term partnership; 20 MHz in Mexico; and 30 MHz in Brazil. EchoStar has already begun delivering texting service in Europe using 2GHz. In North America with its existing GEO satellites, EchoStar will launch a similar service in the first half of 2026.
The new LEO constellation satellites will be designed, manufactured and tested at the MDA Space satellite facility. The constellation will utilize up to 25x20 MHz of AWS-4/S-band 2GHz frequencies, and will be fully compliant with the newly created NTN and 3GPP standards, allowing EchoStar to provide messaging, voice, broadband data, and video services upon launch to all devices with the current 3GPP NTN specifications without modifications. Additionally, the constellation will connect to an array of sensor and mobile vehicles.

Delivery of satellites is planned for 2028 with commercial service starting in 2029. The new LEO project, in total, is estimated to cost $5 billion.

About EchoStar Corporation
EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS) is a premier provider of technology, networking services, television entertainment and connectivity, offering consumer, enterprise, operator and government solutions worldwide under its EchoStar®, Boost Mobile®, Sling TV, DISH TV, Hughes®, HughesNet®, HughesON™, and JUPITER™ brands. In Europe, EchoStar operates under its EchoStar Mobile Limited subsidiary and in Australia, the company operates as EchoStar Global Australia. For more information, visit www.echostar.com and follow EchoStar on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.
©2025 EchoStar, Hughes, HughesNet, DISH and Boost Mobile are registered trademarks of one or more affiliate companies of EchoStar Corp.

i​	EchoStar intends to purchase over 200 MDA AURORA™ satellites from MDA Space for an approximate value of $2.5 billion (approx. C$3.5 billion).

SOURCE EchoStar Corporation

 

[Foxbat]

So, this will compete with T-Mobile's partnership with SpaceX Starlink NTN satellite service to provide cellular communications away from terrestrial towers?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

So, this will compete with T-Mobile's partnership with SpaceX Starlink NTN satellite service to provide cellular communications away from terrestrial towers?

Thats the way I read it.

 

[navychop]

What is it I'm thinking? Something about being late and short.

 

[dishdude]

I don't see this happening. They have a major cash flow problem they need to work on to even think about taking on more debt to launch something 4 years down the line.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I read yesterday that FCC Chairman Carr is demanding that Echostar sell off it's 2g bandwidth so that Musk can use it for Space X. Carr said that they could sell it off for $20 billion. So I take it this is Charlie's way of saying NO to that.

 

[AZ.]

I don't see this happening. They have a major cash flow problem they need to work on to even think about taking on more debt to launch something 4 years down the line.

Well has to be a good reason they have dragged their feet to file bankruptcy. Charlie has something up his sleeve!

 

[n0qcu]

That story was extremely hard to read in dark mode.

 

[Yespage]

What is it I'm thinking? Something about being late and short.

Starlink is the only fish in the pond, but competition is coming and it looks like Echostar found a way to use more of their spectrum constructively. I would have more expected them working with Amazon and partnering the spectrum for their Sat system.

 

[telstar_1]

So then they're gonna have 100s of these sats up there along with starlink? What happens when they start running into each other

 

[Yespage]

So then they're gonna have 100s of these sats up there along with starlink? What happens when they start running into each other

It isn't quite that crowded up there yet.

 

[NYDutch]

So then they're gonna have 100s of these sats up there along with starlink? What happens when they start running into each other

Besides space being a very large place, do we know that Starlink and EchoStar will be using the same elevation? Going even a little higher cuts down on the number of sats needed for full coverage.

 

[nelson61]

I read yesterday that FCC Chairman Carr is demanding that Echostar sell off it's 2g bandwidth so that Musk can use it for Space X. Carr said that they could sell it off for $20 billion. So I take it this is Charlie's way of saying NO to that.

When EchoStar shows the judge their contracts and timelines to build out the 2ghz coverage, it will likely take the wind out of the FCC chairman's sails. (if it ever gets that far)

 

[HipKat]

When EchoStar shows the judge their contracts and timelines to build out the 2ghz coverage, it will likely take the wind out of the FCC chairman's sails. (if it ever gets that far)

2Ghz?? Is it 2009 again?

 

[nelson61]

EchoStar Preps $5B Satellite Network for Phones to Do Battle With Cellular Starlink

Boost Mobile's parent EchoStar will initially launch over 100 satellites to power the direct-to-device service. But commercial service isn't expected to arrive until 2029.

www.pcmag.com

 

[navychop]

How big can that market be?

Driven in part by pricing, I suppose.

 

[NYDutch]

How big can that market be?

Driven in part by pricing, I suppose.

A cell service that works anywhere whether any towers are nearby or not? I would think that would be pretty attractive to a lot of people. In our years of RV travel, we rarely ran into any place that we couldn't reach a tower with either our AT&T or Verizon service tied to a good rooftop antenna system, but we did often pass through dead spots while underway. A service with virtually no dead spots would have been quite appealing, price dependent of course.

 

[navychop]

Performance, performance, performance!