{"id":44656,"date":"2025-08-14T13:14:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/?p=44656"},"modified":"2025-08-14T13:15:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T12:15:05","slug":"echostar-selects-mda-space-for-worlds-first-open-ran-broadband-ntn-leo-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/latest-ntn-news\/echostar-selects-mda-space-for-worlds-first-open-ran-broadband-ntn-leo-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"EchoStar selects MDA space for world’s first open RAN broadband NTN LEO constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

EchoStar Corporation has selected MDA Space Ltd. as the prime contractor for its new $5 billion low Earth orbit (LEO) non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite constellation, aimed at delivering global direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity. The initial $1.3 billion contract covers the design, manufacturing, and testing of over 100 software-defined MDA AURORA\u2122 D2D satellites, part of a planned 200-satellite first phase, with potential expansion to thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Targeting commercial service in 2029, the constellation will operate in the AWS-4\/S-band (2GHz) using up to 25×20 MHz of spectrum and fully comply with 3GPP NTN standards, enabling it to deliver talk, text, broadband, and video services directly to unmodified 5G NTN-compliant devices, as well as support sensor and mobile vehicle connectivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read full article here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EchoStar Corporation has selected MDA Space Ltd. as the prime contractor for its new $5 billion low Earth orbit (LEO) non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite constellation, aimed at delivering global direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity. The initial $1.3 billion contract covers the design, manufacturing, and testing of over 100 software-defined MDA AURORA\u2122 D2D satellites, part of a planned 200-satellite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":44658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15365],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[],"class_list":["post-44656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-ntn-news"],"yoast_head":"\nEchoStar selects MDA space for world's first open RAN broadband NTN LEO constellation - Networks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/latest-ntn-news\/echostar-selects-mda-space-for-worlds-first-open-ran-broadband-ntn-leo-constellation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EchoStar selects MDA space for world's first open RAN broadband NTN LEO constellation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EchoStar Corporation has selected MDA Space Ltd. as the prime contractor for its new $5 billion low Earth orbit (LEO) non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite constellation, aimed at delivering global direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity. The initial $1.3 billion contract covers the design, manufacturing, and testing of over 100 software-defined MDA AURORA\u2122 D2D satellites, part of a planned 200-satellite […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/latest-ntn-news\/echostar-selects-mda-space-for-worlds-first-open-ran-broadband-ntn-leo-constellation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Networks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-14T12:14:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-14T12:15:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-859747880-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1709\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"inikolaou@gsma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GSMA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GSMA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"inikolaou@gsma.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"EchoStar selects MDA space for world's first open RAN broadband NTN LEO constellation - Networks","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/latest-ntn-news\/echostar-selects-mda-space-for-worlds-first-open-ran-broadband-ntn-leo-constellation\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"EchoStar selects MDA space for world's first open RAN broadband NTN LEO constellation","og_description":"EchoStar Corporation has selected MDA Space Ltd. as the prime contractor for its new $5 billion low Earth orbit (LEO) non-terrestrial network (NTN) satellite constellation, aimed at delivering global direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity. The initial $1.3 billion contract covers the design, manufacturing, and testing of over 100 software-defined MDA AURORA\u2122 D2D satellites, part of a planned 200-satellite […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/latest-ntn-news\/echostar-selects-mda-space-for-worlds-first-open-ran-broadband-ntn-leo-constellation\/","og_site_name":"Networks","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/","article_published_time":"2025-08-14T12:14:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-14T12:15:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1709,"url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-859747880-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"inikolaou@gsma.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GSMA","twitter_site":"@GSMA","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"inikolaou@gsma.com","Estimated reading time":"1 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