WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Blue Origin has asked the Federal Communications Commission for approval to deploy more than 50,000 satellites under Project Sunrise, a proposed orbital computing network designed to move data-center workloads from Earth into space.
In a March 19 filing, the company said the satellite system would perform advanced computing in orbit, aiming to reduce pressure on terrestrial energy and water resources by shifting compute-intensive workloads away from land-based data centers.
Blue Origin said the network would rely on its planned **TeraWave** communications constellation as a high-throughput backbone linking the satellites, though the filing did not disclose expected computing capacity or deployment timelines.
The proposal reflects growing interest in orbital data centers as artificial intelligence expands global demand for computing power. SpaceX has separately proposed a far larger network of up to one million satellites for distributed computing, while Google is developing its own concept known as Project Suncatcher.
Blue Origin could benefit from its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket, which may help lower launch costs if reused regularly, similar to the vertical integration model that has supported SpaceX's satellite expansion.
The concept still faces major hurdles, including launch economics, spacecraft cooling technology, radiation effects on processors, orbital congestion and environmental concerns tied to satellite disposal. Industry experts expect such systems are unlikely to become operational before the 2030s.
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