Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, is the latest entrant into the booming satellite internet business. This week, it announced TeraWave, a megaconstellation project promising to deliver data speeds of up to 6 terabits per second (Tbps) anywhere on Earth—technology that could also lay the groundwork for future data centers in space. The move is a strategic addition to another Bezos-backed effort, Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit broadband network Leo (formerly known as Project Kuiper), in a market currently dominated by SpaceX’s Starlink.
Megaconstellations like these transmit data between Earth and orbiting satellites without cables or cell towers, extending internet access to remote and underserved regions. SpaceX’s Starlink currently operates roughly 9,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit and delivers high-speed internet in more than 150 countries. Blue Origin also faces growing international competition: China is developing two rival megaconstellations, Guowang and Qianfan, which together are expected to include more than 13,000 satellites.
Unlike Starlink and Leo, however, TeraWave is not aimed at households. Instead, the network will serve “tens of thousands” of enterprises, government agencies and, importantly, data centers, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said on X.
That strategy reflects the surging importance of data centers in the age of A.I. These facilities, which store and process massive volumes of text, images and other data, are straining the world’s power grids as A.I. usage explodes. Space has begun to look like an unconventional solution to that energy crunch. Several aerospace and tech companies are exploring the idea of placing data centers in orbit, where they could draw on near-limitless solar power and radiate heat directly into space.
Last November, Limp told Yahoo Finance that data centers in space will “for sure” happen in our lifetimes. Google, SpaceX and smaller firms such as Axiom Space and Starcloud have already announced early-stage plans to build or test orbital data storage and computing systems. Space is attractive not only for energy access but also for its lower environmental footprint and the relative ease of scaling compared with building new terrestrial facilities.
TeraWave joins a growing list of ambitious Blue Origin projects, which includes two lunar landers, a commercial space station and a Mars orbiter. The company has also made progress on New Glenn, its long-delayed reusable heavy-lift rocket designed to deploy satellites into low-Earth orbit—including Amazon’s Leo constellation and, potentially, TeraWave itself.
For now, Amazon Leo depends on other launch providers. Since last April, the project has sent 180 satellites into orbit using rockets from United Launch Alliance and SpaceX. Under existing agreements, Blue Origin is expected to handle between 12 and 27 future Leo launches as part of the effort to build out a roughly 3,200-satellite network. Those flights hinge on the reliability of New Glenn, which is still in the testing phase.
Bezos, who founded Blue Origin in 2000, has long said the company could eventually eclipse Amazon. “I think it’s going to be the best business that I’ve ever been involved in, but it’s going to take a while,” he said in 2024.
Blue Origin plans to begin deploying TeraWave satellites in the fourth quarter of 2027. The constellation will consist of 5,408 optically interconnected satellites, most of them operating in low-Earth orbit, forming a high-speed network designed to serve the next generation of cloud computing and space-based infrastructure.
