Jeff Bezos throws his hat in the ring for an orbital data center megaconstellation, too - Ars Technica
Overview
Jeff Bezos just announced plans for a third megaconstellation—this one for data centers
“Space-based data centers will be a complement to terrestrial infrastructure.”
Details
A little more than a month ago, Space X founder Elon Musk put down a marker of his intent to saturate low-Earth orbit with up to 1 million satellites. Its purpose? Provide always-on data center services around the planet.
Now, Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has done something similar with a filing to the Federal Communications Commission of his own, proposing a constellation of up to 51,600 satellites operating in Sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes ranging from 500 to 1,800 km. Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, sought the authority to do this and is calling the constellation “Project Sunrise.”
In its filing, Blue Origin argues that terrestrial AI-based data centers will face difficulties scaling up to meet computing demand.
“The insatiable demand for AI workloads has led to the rapid buildout of terrestrial data centers globally,” the filing states. “Space-based data centers will be a complement to terrestrial infrastructure by introducing a new compute tier that operates independently of Earth-based constraints.”
In addition to Space X and Blue Origin, Starcloud, a smaller company backed by Nvidia, has also filed an application for an orbital data center megaconstellation of 88,000 satellites.
The new filings for these massive constellations—which none of these companies are prepared to populate just yet with actual satellites—likely represent a gold rush of sorts. Although low-Earth orbit is very large, there are only a select few orbits that provide continuous or nearly continuous sunlight (most orbits have periods of darkness when the Earth is between the satellite and the Sun).
Like Space X, Blue Origin is targeting these special polar orbits.
Its application seeks to put satellites in orbital inclinations between 97 and 104 degrees. These are known, generally, as Terminator Sun-synchronous orbits because the satellites remain in essentially permanent sunlight year-round. There is limited real estate there, even in outer space, and these regulatory filings are claims by the space companies to this territory.
This would be Bezos’ third megaconstellation. Amazon finally began launching its first satellites for the Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) constellation last year. This is intended to compete with Space X’s Starlink constellation, which will provide global Internet from low-Earth orbit. Then, in January, Blue Origin announced plans to launch the Tera Wave constellation in low-Earth and medium-Earth orbit to provide high-speed connectivity for enterprise customers.
And now comes Project Sunrise to build orbital data centers.
“For data, Project Sunrise will rely on optical links to support its communications by routing traffic through its Tera Wave system and other mesh backhaul networks to transmit to the ground,” the new filing states.
It’s notable that Bezos chose to have Blue Origin lead this constellation, as well as Tera Wave. This space company is already responsible for a number of major projects, including the New Glenn rocket, a major lunar program, an in-space vehicle known as Blue Ring, a space station called Orbital Reef, and the Tera Wave network. Now, an even more ambitious megaconstellation is being added to the pile.
What seems clear is that Bezos wants Blue Origin to be as ambitious as Musk’s Space X, with reusable rockets, lunar landers, and tens of thousands of satellites that will enable artificial intelligence. The difference to date is that Space X has begun executing on this plan with more than 600 launches of its Falcon 9 rocket, recently hitting a milestone of having more than 10,000 satellites in orbit at the same time. Blue Origin has launched its New Glenn rocket twice and has no satellites in orbit.
It will be interesting to see how this new megaconstellation is received by the FCC. The organization’s chairman, Brendan Carr, recently had some sharp words for Amazon when the company petitioned the FCC to deny Space X’s request for its 1 million-satellite megaconstellation.
“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr said in response, referring to Amazon’s failure to reach a July 2026 deadline to deploy half of the Amazon Leo constellation’s 3,236 satellites.
If Carr says Amazon should focus on Amazon Leo, what will he think of Blue Origin proposing a second mega-constellation, Project Sunrise, before it has even bent a single sheet of metal for Tera Wave?
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Key Takeaways
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Jeff Bezos just announced plans for a third megaconstellation—this one for data centers
-
“Space-based data centers will be a complement to terrestrial infrastructure
-
A little more than a month ago, Space X founder Elon Musk put down a marker of his intent to saturate low-Earth orbit with up to 1 million satellites
-
Now, Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has done something similar with a filing to the Federal Communications Commission of his own, proposing a constellation of up to 51,600 satellites operating in Sun-synchronous orbits at altitudes ranging from 500 to 1,800 km
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In its filing, Blue Origin argues that terrestrial AI-based data centers will face difficulties scaling up to meet computing demand
