Techniques, described herein, include solutions for managing hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) processes and communications for non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) (e.g., a wireless communication network that includes a satellite network component). A user equipment (UE) may connect to an NTN and determine hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) capabilities regarding NTNs. The UE may also communicate a HARQ disablement message to the NTN and communicate with NTN without HARQ procedures. The HARQ disablement message may provide the HARQ disablement capabilities of the UE and/or be a request for the network to disable HARQ. The HARQ disablement message may include a radio resource control (RRC) reconfiguration message and may address HARQ disablement per logical channel identifier (LCID) or dedicated radio bearer (DRB).