EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan

EchoStar CEO Hamid Akhavan teased plans for a direct-to-device satellite constellation during EchoStar’s investor call on May 8, saying that while EchoStar hasn’t made many announcements, it is getting plans and engineering ready — and getting the timing right is critical. 

EchoStar has been open about these plans in the works for a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) capability, but has not announced specifics yet. 

“We certainly intend to be in the market as the leading provider of mobile direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity using our S-band rights internationally and AWS-4 domestically. We are very much focused on it. It is one of the most important strategic priorities in terms of business development,” Akhavan said Thursday. 

But he emphasized it’s too early to launch satellites right now because the device ecosystem has not caught up yet with widespread availability of 3GPP standards-based devices that can communicate with satellite. 

“If I had a satellite today, I would not launch it today,” he said. “The satellite has a life of several years in a LEO system. If the satellite goes up, but there are no devices to talk to — what is the point? What is the point of depreciating a very expensive asset up in the sky without being able to get revenue from it?”

“The timing of when the satellite has to go up versus the available population of compatible devices on Earth is a timing decision that is very important. That’s why we have timing for that optimized window,” he added. “We are not missing the window of opportunity.” 

Akhavan said potential LEO investments would be at the EchoStar level, and not with satellite subsidiary Hughes Network Systems. 

He said the company’s spectrum rights which span space and ground are one of the most important factors, along with Hughes’ experience in satellite technology and EchoStar’s position as a global 5G O-RAN provider. 

“Marrying all of this together for us is just the most natural thing, because we have it all in house. We are the only company that can do it all in house,” he said. 

Hughes Network Systems Q1 Results 

EchoStar’s satellite division, Hughes Network Systems, reported a revenue dip of 3% in the first quarter of 2025 and a loss of 30,000 subscribers during the quarter. 

Broadband & Satellite Services, which is predominantly the Hughes enterprise and consumer family of brands, posted approximately $371 million in revenue for the first quarter, a 3% decline year-over-year. 

Hughes ended the first quarter with 853,000 subscribers, a decline of 30,000 subscribers sequentially 

Contracted backlog for Hughes of $1.6 billion at the end of the quarter was up 5% year-over-year, which the company said was due to new international contracts for managed network services and an expanded enterprise backlog. 

Overall, EchoStar reported $3.87 billion for the first quarter 2025, with growth in revenue for the Wireless business. Revenue was down 3.6% year-over-year during the quarter.