Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, says it will launch more than 5,400 satellites to create a new communications network.
Named TeraWave, it will offer continuous internet access around the world, with the ability to move large amounts of data much more quickly than rival services.
But even after launching thousands of satellites, Blue Origin would still have far fewer in orbit than Elon Musk’s Starlink, which currently dominates the satellite internet market.
Starlink – part of Musk’s rocket firm SpaceX – also offers internet and phone services to individual customers, while Blue Origin says TeraWave will be focused on data centres, businesses and governments.
Blue Origin said its network, at its fastest, would allow upload and download speeds of as much as 6 terabits per second, much faster than rival commercial satellite services currently offer.
Another competitor to TeraWave is Amazon, the technology giant that made Bezos a multi-billionaire. He is still Amazon’s executive chairman after stepping down in 2021 as its chief executive.
Amazon’s satellite venture is called Leo. While it currently has around 180 satellites in orbit, having launched dozens more just last week, it plans to have more than 3,000 in orbit.
Like Starlink, Amazon is also more focused on the general public than businesses and governments, pitching Leo as a way to offer high-speed internet access globally. It has not said when all of the Leo satellites will be in orbit.
Blue Origin said it will start launching its TeraWave satellites by the end of 2027.
In November, the company successfully landed a rocket booster on a floating platform for the first time.
Only SpaceX had previously accomplished this feat.
In April, Blue Origin launched an 11-minute space flight with an all-female crew, including Bezos’ now-wife Lauren Sánchez, singer Katie Perry and CBS presenter Gayle King.
But some commentators said it was “tone deaf” for celebrities to be taking part in such a fleeting and expensive trip at a time of economic struggle.