It looks like Jeff Bezos is no longer content to simply sit back and observe the satellite internet industry. Instead, he’s finally jumping into the fray. This week, Blue Origin announced that they’re going to deploy TeraWave, an enormous satellite internet network that will serve enterprise customers, data centres, and government agencies.
Their goal? To build a total of 5,408 satellites by late 2027, with each capable of delivering blazing fast speeds of up to 6 terabits per second from both low and medium Earth orbits. That’s right; terabits. While we’re all still struggling to get rid of those pesky buffering errors on our streaming apps, Blue Origin is working to deliver internet speeds faster than nearly every fibre optic cable on earth. The first satellites are expected to be deployed sometime in Q4 2027, and if successful, this could revolutionise the way organisations and governments around the globe access global connectivity.
However, the real fun begins when you realise that Bezos is now competing with himself. Kind of! Bezos’ own company, Amazon, is currently developing Project Kuiper (now known as Leo). This has already launched 180 satellites since last April and is shooting for a total of 3,236 satellites in their constellation. And then, of course, there’s Elon Musk’s Starlink, the current reigning champion of satellite internet with well over 9,000 satellites already in orbit and over 9 million subscribers globally. So what this means is Bezos is basically jumping into a three-way battle where one of his opponents is… also his own company. It’s kind of like watching someone play chess against themselves while Elon Musk looks on with a smirk. The market is becoming increasingly crowded, and the stakes are astronomically high, literally.
In 2024, Bezos said that he expects Blue Origin to ultimately become a larger business than Amazon. Let that soak in for a minute. The man who created one of the world’s largest companies has stated that he believes his space venture will exceed that of his former company! TeraWave is not just about providing internet service; it’s about building the infrastructure needed for the next generation of global communication, autonomous systems and unencumbered data transfer, without the need to rely on ground-based networks. With Blue Origin successfully landing its New Glenn rocket booster and demonstrating that it can compete in reusable rocket technology, the company is establishing itself not only as a launch provider but also as a full-stack player in the field of space communications. Translation? The space internet wars have officially begun, and 2027 is going to be an interesting year to keep an eye on the sky.