MDA Space was selected Aug. 1 as the prime contractor for EchoStar’s non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite constellation, which will operate direct-to-device in low-Earth orbit on a commercial basis as soon as 2029.
The contract represents a huge win for MDA’s Aurora software-defined satellite program, which will see the company assemble, integrate and test the fleet in Montreal at a satellite manufacturing facility currently undergoing an 185,000-square-foot expansion. Delivery on the first tranche is set for 2028.
More implications may be disclosed in MDA’s next earnings call on Thursday (Aug. 7), which SpaceQ will be covering, but MDA provided a press release with initial details. Once ready, the satellites will “provide messaging, voice, broadband data, and video services upon launch” to individual mobile phones, MDA stated, as well as connections to sensor and mobile vehicles.
The EchoStar deal is the fourth LEO constellation contract MDA received in the last three or so years: other examples include a $1.1 billion contract with Globalstar in February 2025, and a contract for Telesat’s Lightspeed constellation in August 2023 then valued at $2.1 billion.
The initial EchoStar contract is valued at approximately $1.8 billion ($1.3 billion USD), including design, manufacturing and testing of more than 100 Aurora satellites. But the full initial configuration could be as much as double that, with contract options: more than 200 satellites, with a value of approximately $3.5 billion ($2.5 billion USD).
Then the constellation is expected to grow even further – “to thousands of satellites, as demand requires”, as the release stated, “to provide global talk, text and broadband services directly to standard 5G handheld devices.”
MDA said this announcement positions them to begin “volume manufacturing of the world’s first 3GPP 5G compliant non-terrestrial network using LEO satellites.” 3GPP refers to 3rd Generation Partnership Project, which is – simply put – a mobile broadband standard agreed to by several major telecommunications organizations.
The news came out hours before the Civic Holiday long weekend in Ontario, but MDA’s Luigi Pozzebon, vice-president of satellite systems, provided an additional one-line statement to SpaceQ about the significance of 3GPP: It “ensures interoperability between satellite networks and existing terrestrial cellular networks, enabling users to roam seamlessly between the two.”
Analysts have been saying for years that NTNs represent a large opportunity for 5G. NTNs allow for communication with uncrewed aerial vehicles/UAVs (or similar high-altitude platforms) and LEO satellites, which will be “integrated with terrestrial networks to create a hybrid terrestrial/non-terrestrial 5G mobile infrastructure serving consumers and enterprises,” wrote Mobile World Live and Cambridge Consultants back in 2022.
LEO and platforms both will be served with newer antenna technology capable of transmitting hundreds of beams at a time, yet “narrowed so finely and accurately that it’s the equivalent of one user having their own personal cell site,” the report added. “Suffice to say that advanced antenna technologies make it possible to turn a UAV or a LEO satellite into a 5G base station, or backhaul provider, that can be integrated into terrestrial 5G networks.”
The 2022 report called this hybrid infrastructure a “game-changer” in part because NTNs “offer a viable solution to increase coverage to all.” Other factors in the improved infrastructure included better antenna technology and more robust cellular technology in rural areas, among others.
In the MDA statement announcing the EchoStar deal, CEO Mike Greenley said the agreement with the U.S. company “is a testament to the confidence satellite operators have in our deep expertise, our differentiated MDA Aurora product line, and our expanding production capacity.”
MDA plans to position itself as a “prime contractor of choice for satellite operators offering direct-to-device and broadband connectivity,” Greenley added. The initial $1.8 billion tranche will be added to MDA’s backlog in the third quarter of fiscal 2025.