Procures satellites and plans Australian operations for new
Low Earth Orbit constellation to power connectivity for smart
devices
DENVER, Feb. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, EchoStar
Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS) announced an agreement with Astro
Digital, a designer, manufacturer and operator of small satellite
systems, for the construction of a global S-band mobile satellite
service (MSS) network. Under the agreement, Astro Digital will
manufacture the satellites for the constellation, which will
deliver global Internet of Things (IoT), machine-to-machine (M2M)
and other data services beginning in 2024. EchoStar will operate
the constellation from its Australian subsidiary, EchoStar
Global.
"This agreement represents another step forward towards our goal
of a global non-terrestrial 5G network," said Hamid Akhavan, CEO, EchoStar. "With our
engineering ingenuity, our service delivery expertise and our
spectrum rights, EchoStar is uniquely positioned to offer worldwide
S-band satellite services to help meet the insatiable demand for
complete and constant connectivity."
The 28 satellites in this constellation design will feature an
advanced software-defined radio with onboard storage and processing
to power smart two-way device connectivity. The satellites will be
enabled with the LoRa® (meaning "Long Range") protocol for connecting very
low-cost, long-lived devices. With support for 5G non-terrestrial
network (NTN) services, the constellation will serve as a
foundation for EchoStar to engineer 5G New Radio (NR) based NTN
capabilities according to 3GPP release 17 specifications.
"These new capabilities will fill a gap in the connected
ecosystem, greatly expanding worldwide IoT interoperability," said
Josh Williams, managing director,
EchoStar Global Australia. "Our team, together with Astro Digital,
has already begun integration of our Australian-based operations to
bring to market a truly global solution with consistent and
reliable network performance."
Through its subsidiary EchoStar Mobile Limited, EchoStar also
operates an MSS network in Europe
using the geostationary EchoStar XXI satellite, which will
interoperate seamlessly with the new LEO constellation.
About Astro Digital
From concept to constellation,
Astro Digital provides customers with complete space-based systems
and mission support services for applications such as earth
observation, satellite communications, science, and technology
demonstrations. Headquartered in Santa
Clara, California, the company manufactures satellites in
its California factory and will
provide a follow-the-sun satellite operations model from both the
U.S. and Australia. For the latest
updates and information, visit www.astrodigital.com and
follow Astro Digital
on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
About EchoStar
EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq: SATS) is
a premier technology and networking services provider offering
consumer, enterprise, operator and government solutions worldwide
under its Hughes®, HughesNet® and
EchoStar® 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 Twitter and
LinkedIn.
©2023 EchoStar. Hughes and HughesNet are registered trademarks
of Hughes Network Systems, LLC, an EchoStar company.
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