Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2025

Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets

Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets

7.	Property and Equipment and Intangible Assets

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment consisted of the following:


		Depreciable				As of
		Life				September 30,			December 31,
		(In Years)				2025			2024

						(In thousands)
Equipment leased to customers		2	-	5		$	1,699,486		$	1,784,801
Satellites (1)		5	-	15			3,435,260			3,872,664
Satellites acquired under finance lease agreements			15				358,754			344,972
Furniture, fixtures, equipment and other		1	-	20			1,602,421			1,686,992
5G Network equipment/Hybrid MNO (1)(2)		3	-	15			89,633			5,382,706
Software and computer equipment (1)		1	-	8			1,625,774			2,216,007
Buildings and improvements		1	-	40			515,635			513,419
Land			-				42,985			42,842
Construction in progress (1)			-				484,256			1,570,275
Total property and equipment							9,854,204			17,414,678
Accumulated depreciation							(6,769,411)			(8,227,546)
Property and equipment, net (3)						$	3,084,793		$	9,187,132

(1)	This change primarily resulted from the non-cash impairment of long-lived assets. See Note 1 for further information.

(2)	Historically, includes 5G Network assets acquired under finance lease agreements.

(3)	As of September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, there were no refunds and other receipts of purchases of property and equipment.

Depreciation and amortization expense consisted of the following:


		For the Three Months Ended						For the Nine Months Ended
		September 30,						September 30,
		2025			2024			2025			2024

		(In thousands)
Equipment leased to customers		$	56,221		$	83,778		$	177,243		$	214,723
Satellites			55,829			74,464			186,092			225,365
Buildings, furniture, fixtures, equipment and other			24,106			20,685			85,377			96,105
5G Network equipment/Hybrid MNO			159,115			187,281			584,029			533,575
Software and computer equipment			82,517			94,193			298,677			278,746
Intangible assets and other amortization expense			13,503			17,033			41,261			121,845
Total depreciation and amortization		$	391,291		$	477,434		$	1,372,679		$	1,470,359

Cost of sales and operating expense categories included in our accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income (Loss) do not include depreciation and amortization expense related to satellites, equipment leased to customers, or our 5G Network equipment and software, and amortization of development costs of externally marketed software.

Activity relating to our asset retirement obligations, included in “Long-term deferred revenue and other long-term liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets, was as follows:


		For the Three Months Ended						For the Nine Months Ended
		September 30,						September 30,
		2025			2024			2025			2024

		(In thousands)
Balance, beginning of period		$	347,720		$	300,475		$	327,031		$	278,287
Liabilities incurred			337			5,051			5,222			14,010
Accretion expense			9,115			7,114			24,919			20,343
Remeasurement of estimate			80,459			—			80,459			—
Balance, end of period		$	437,631		$	312,640		$	437,631		$	312,640

During the third quarter of 2025, our asset retirement obligations were revised as the timing associated with the obligations to remediate leased property on our communication towers was accelerated.

The corresponding assets, net of accumulated depreciation, related to asset retirement obligations were impaired as of September 30, 2025, resulting in a net book value of zero and $216 million as of September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. See Note 1 for further information.

Satellites Pay-TV Segment

Our Pay-TV segment currently utilizes eight satellites in geosynchronous orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator, seven of which we own and depreciate over their estimated useful life. We also lease one satellite from a third party, Nimiq 5, which is accounted for as an operating lease.

As of September 30, 2025, our Pay-TV segment satellite fleet consisted of the following:


				Degree		Lease
		Launch		Orbital		Termination
Satellites		Date		Location		Date
Owned:
EchoStar X		February 2006		110		N/A
EchoStar XI		July 2008		110		N/A
EchoStar XIV		March 2010		119		N/A
EchoStar XV		July 2010		119		N/A
EchoStar XVI		November 2012		61.5		N/A
EchoStar XVIII		June 2016		61.5		N/A
EchoStar XXIII		March 2017		110		N/A

Under Construction:
EchoStar XXV		2026		110		N/A
EchoStar XXVI		2028		119		N/A

Leased from Other Third-Party:
Nimiq 5		September 2009		72.7		October 2029

As of April 2025, we no longer lease the Anik F3 satellite.

Satellites Under Construction

EchoStar XXV. On March 20, 2023, we entered into a contract with Lanteris Space LLC for the construction of EchoStar XXV, a DBS satellite that is capable of providing service to the continental United States (“CONUS”) and is intended to be used at the 110 degree orbital location. During the fourth quarter of 2023, we entered into an agreement with SpaceX for launch services for this satellite, which is expected to be launched during 2026.

EchoStar XXVI. On May 15, 2025, we entered into a contract with Lanteris Space LLC for the construction of EchoStar XXVI, a DBS satellite that is capable of providing service to the CONUS and is intended to be used at the 119 degree orbital location. During the third quarter of 2025, we entered into an agreement with SpaceX for launch services for this satellite, which is expected to be launched during 2028.

Satellites - Broadband and Satellite Services Segment

Our Broadband and Satellite Services segment currently utilizes seven satellites in geosynchronous orbit approximately 22,300 miles above the equator, four of which we own and depreciate over their estimated useful life. We also lease three satellites from third parties, which are accounted for as finance leases and are depreciated over their economic life.

As of September 30, 2025, our Broadband and Satellite Services segment satellite fleet consisted of the following:


				Degree		Lease
		Launch		Orbital		Termination
Satellites		Date		Location		Date
Owned:
EchoStar XVII		July 2012		107		N/A
EchoStar XIX		December 2016		97.1		N/A
EchoStar XXI (1)		June 2017		10.25		N/A
EchoStar XXIV		July 2023		95.2		N/A

Leased from Other Third-Party:
Eutelsat 65 West A		March 2016		65		July 2031
Telesat T19V		July 2018		63		August 2033
EchoStar 105/SES-11		October 2017		105		November 2030

(1)

As of September 30, 2025, we impaired the EchoStar XXI satellite and wrote down the carrying value of the satellite to the estimated fair value of zero. See Note 1 for further information.

As of June 2025, all commercial traffic on the Al Yah 3 satellite had been transferred to other satellites in our fleet and the Al Yah 3 satellite is no longer operational and is no longer in service.

In addition, all commercial traffic on the EchoStar IX satellite has been transferred to other satellites in our fleet and the EchoStar IX satellite is no longer in service. During the second quarter of 2025, we began the disposal process for the EchoStar IX satellite and the disposal process was completed in the third quarter of 2025.