Up to 6 Tbit/s: Blue Origin announces ultra-fast satellite internet
Blue Origin wants to use more than 5,000 satellites to build a high-performance network for companies and government agencies from the end of 2027.
By the end of 2027, Earth's orbit will be even more crowded: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' private space company Blue Origin wants to launch thousands of satellites into orbit to establish the satellite internet service Tera Wave. Elon Musk's company Space X has been operating a similar system with Starlink since 2020, and Amazon itself is also building a comparable broadband service with Amazon Leo.
In contrast to Starlink and Amazon Leo, however, Tera Wave is not intended to connect private households, ships or aeroplanes. According to the press release, Tera Wave is aimed specifically at companies, data centres and government institutions and aims to provide them with reliable, symmetrical broadband internet.
As with Starlink, the advantage of the system is that it can be set up quickly and independently of construction work: where broadband expansion is too slow or not realised at all, satellite internet can provide a remedy. Tera Wave also emphasises redundancy. The service is designed to ensure that critical services remain available in the event of natural disasters, cybercrime and fibre optic outages, for example.
Up to 6 Tbit/s via laser communication
According to the website, Blue Origin limits its service to a maximum of around 100,000 customers, while Starlink serves many millions of customers - and offers a lower and asymmetric transmission rate. While Starlink aims to exceed the gigabit download threshold from 2026, Blue Origin advertises a significantly higher transmission speed.
The company plans to launch a total of 5408 satellites into space. 5280 of these will circle the earth in low orbits of 520 to 540 kilometres and enable up to 144 gigabits per second via radio signal. A further 128 satellites will be placed in a medium Earth orbit between 8,000 and 24,200 kilometres above the ground and will use laser communication to achieve speeds of up to six terabits per second. They will also serve as an optical backhaul solution for the satellites in the lower orbit.
Source: Blue Origin
Six terabits per second is an enormous transmission speed. But this connection also has disadvantages: Due to the greater distance, transmission takes place with higher latency and optical communication relies on clear visibility between the sender and receiver. Storms could disrupt communication.
Around 13,000 satellites orbit the earth
The more than 5,000 planned Tera-Wave satellites join the approximately 13,000 active satellites that are already in near-Earth space, according to the European Space Agency ESA. In addition, there are thousands more satellites that are no longer active. More than 9,000 satellites are currently in use for Starlink operations and, according to SpaceX, this number is set to increase to 42,000.
Experts at ESA are concerned about the number of satellites and the resulting space debris. This poses an increasing risk to space missions and active satellites. SpaceX is already taking action: Starlink's Head of Engineering Michael Nicolls announced on X at the beginning of January that around 4,400 of the company's satellites will descend from a 550-kilometre orbit to 480 kilometres. There, deactivated satellites burn up more quickly in the atmosphere.
A technical appendix document that Blue Origin published according to Geekwire accompanying the licence application addresses the disposal of Terawave satellites at the end of their active service. 90 per cent of the satellites are expected to burn up in the atmosphere no later than five years after their deactivation. An active propulsion system should prevent collisions with other objects before then. Nevertheless, more satellites mean more risk.
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