- Blue Origin will rival Starlink and Amazon Leo to provide satellite Internet to companies and governments
- TeraWave network will offer much higher speeds with optical support
- Amazon continues to work with Blue Origin as a launch partner
Blue Origin has announced plans for TeraWave, a new satellite Internet network that aims to improve global connectivity for enterprises, data centers and government customers.
Although not a consumer-focused proposition (for now), Jeff Bezos’ TeraWave will take on rival company and Elon Musk’s brainchild, SpaceX, which operates a similar low-Earth orbit-based network, Starlink.
TeraWave promises up to 6 Tbps over optical links and up to 144 Gbps per client using radio frequency, as well as symmetrical upload and download speeds.
TeraWave LEO Network
This marks a considerable improvement over the current LEO average, which offers asymmetrical 1 Gbps download and 400 Mbps upload speeds via RF.
The difference is that existing LEO-based networks serve “many millions” (according to Blue Origin), while TeraWave will target about 100,000 customers.
TeraWave will comprise 5,408 satellites, including 5,280 in low Earth orbit for high-speed radio frequency access and 128 in medium Earth orbit for ultra-high capacity optical (light-based) links.
“It complements fiber backhaul with a unique architecture that delivers high-performance optical and RF connectivity,” the company wrote.
The constellation is scheduled to begin deploying in the final months of 2027, years after Stalink became commonplace with its more than 9,000 satellites. It will also enter the market alongside Amazon’s Leo (formerly Project Kuiper), which currently has 180 satellites in orbit but plans to have more than 3,200.
On the other hand, Amazon will continue to use Blue Origin as a launch partner for the expansion of its Leo network, benefiting from Bezos’ New Glenn rocket.
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