MDA opened a 1,400-square-meter facility production facility in Montreal in 2023 with a clean room. Credit: MDA Space

TAMPA, Fla. — EchoStar has placed a $1.3 billion order with MDA Space for the first 100 satellites of a $5 billion direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity constellation, even as regulatory scrutiny of the company’s spectrum licenses threatens to push it into bankruptcy.

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Jason Rainbow writes about satellite telecom, finance and commercial markets for SpaceNews. He has spent more than a decade covering the global space industry as a business journalist. Previously, he was Group Editor-in-Chief for Finance Information Group,...