Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ space company, has announced this Wednesday the deployment of 5,408 satellites to create TeraWave, a satellite communications network that will compete directly with starlink from SpaceX. But there is a crucial difference: it is not intended for you or me.
What Blue Origin proposes. TeraWave promises speeds of up to 6 terabits per second, both upload and download, anywhere on the planet, according to the company. Deployment will begin at the end of 2027 with a constellation that will combine satellites in low and medium Earth orbit, connected by optical links. The network is designed to serve a maximum of approximately 100,000 customers, not millions like its competitors.
The big difference with Starlink. While the service deployed by Elon Musk’s company, with more than 9,000 satellites in orbit and some 9 million customers, focuses on offering internet to individual consumers, companies and governments alike, TeraWave is committed to an exclusively business approach.
Blue Origin has made clear that its network is “designed specifically for enterprise customers,” targeting data centers, governments and enterprises that require reliable connectivity for critical operations. Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin and former head of Amazon devices, confirmed in the statement that this is an “enterprise grade” service.
An increasingly saturated market. Bezos is not only competing with Musk, but also with his own creature: Amazon. The e-commerce company Leo is deploying (formerly Project Kuiper), a network of 3,236 satellites of which there are already 180 in orbit. Unlike TeraWave, Leo does target both businesses, consumers and governments, competing more directly with Starlink. In addition, several Chinese companies are rapidly developing similar constellations with low-cost reusable rockets, following the strategy that SpaceX established with your Falcon 9.
Why do they aim so high in speed?. Those 6 terabits per second that TeraWave promises are extreme even by current enterprise standards, well above what rival commercial services offer. So yes, indeed, Blue Origin aims to meet the demand for data centers for AI. And the TeraWave announcement coincides with a career in the space industry for building data centers in space that can meet the growing demand for large-scale AI processing.
Musk has already expressed his desire to build these space centers complementing Starlink, while Bezos already predicted that will be common in orbit in the next 10 to 20 years.
The logistical challenge. To put 5,408 satellites into orbit you need a reliable and economical launch machine. This is where Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket comes in, which although it has completed two launches, has not yet reached the necessary flight rate. Last November, the company achieved an important milestone upon successful landing the New Glenn booster after the launch of two NASA spacecraft, becoming the second company, after SpaceX, to achieve this feat.
Bezos’s commitment to space. The founder of Amazon has been preaching about the potential of Blue Origin for years. In 2024, during an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, Bezos stated who believes Blue Origin “will be the best business I’ve ever been involved in, but it will take time.” Founded in 2000, the company has been primarily known for its tourist flights to the edge of space. Last year he also took both his current wife, Lauren Sánchez, and to the singer Katy Perry or to our national survivor, Jesus Calleja.
Cover image | Jeff Bezos
In Xataka | SpaceX has made sending things to space very cheap. The problem is that now space is full of things
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings