---
type: source
title: "Blue Origin files Project Sunrise — 51,600-satellite orbital data center constellation"
author: "Multiple sources (SpaceNews, The Register, GeekWire, DataCenterDynamics)"
url: https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-joins-the-orbital-data-center-race/
date: 2026-03-19
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: [energy, ai-alignment]
format: thread
status: processed
processed_by: astra
processed_date: 2026-04-13
priority: high
tags: [orbital-data-centers, blue-origin, project-sunrise, terawave, new-glenn, AI-compute, megaconstellation]
flagged_for_theseus: ["Orbital compute race: Blue Origin joins SpaceX in proposing solar-powered space data centers"]
flagged_for_leo: ["Two competing orbital compute proposals in 90 days — pattern or coincidence? Cross-domain synthesis needed"]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

**FCC filing (March 19, 2026):** Blue Origin filed with the FCC for Project Sunrise — a constellation of up to **51,600 satellites** providing in-space computing services. Orbit: sun-synchronous, 500–1,800 km altitude. Each orbital plane is 5–10 km apart in altitude with 300–1,000 satellites per plane.

**Power:** Solar-powered ("always-on solar energy"). No technical specs disclosed on compute hardware, processor type, or power density.

**Communications:** Primarily optical inter-satellite links via TeraWave (Blue Origin's broadband constellation announced January 2026). Ka-band for TT&C only. First 5,000+ TeraWave satellites scheduled for deployment by end 2027 aboard New Glenn 9×4.

**Economic argument:** Blue Origin claims space-based datacenters feature "built-in efficiencies" and "fundamentally lower the marginal cost of compute capacity compared to terrestrial alternatives," while eliminating land displacement costs and grid infrastructure disparities.

**Critic response:** Technology described as currently "doesn't exist" and likely to be "unreliable and impractical." No independent technical validation of the compute-in-space economic argument.

**New Glenn manufacturing context (March 2026):** Blue Origin is ramping New Glenn manufacturing cadence following two successful flights in 2025 and NG-3 (NET April 16). The NG 9×4 variant is planned for TeraWave/Project Sunrise launches. Current New Glenn has flown twice; NG 9×4 is a future variant.

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** Blue Origin filing within 60 days of SpaceX confirms this is a race, not a one-off filing. The existence of two major filings suggests the orbital compute narrative is hardening as a capital attraction/regulatory positioning strategy, regardless of technical readiness. Also notable: Blue Origin is simultaneously pursuing VIPER (lunar ISRU science), LTV (lunar mobility), Blue Moon MK1 (CLPS lander), Project Ignition (Phase 3 prime for lunar habitats), and now an orbital data center constellation. This is a massive strategic portfolio expansion.

**What surprised me:** TeraWave was announced only in January 2026 — one month before SpaceX's FCC filing — and then Project Sunrise filed in March. The sequence (Starlink → xAI → SpaceX filing → Blue Origin filing) suggests competitive mimicry, not independent strategic development. Blue Origin may be filing to preserve regulatory position rather than from operational readiness.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any disclosure of the satellite compute hardware architecture or power-to-compute ratio. Neither SpaceX nor Blue Origin disclosed technical specs — both filings are regulatory/strategic, not engineering.

**KB connections:** Pattern of orbital compute as a new demand driver for large launch vehicles. Also relevant to the New Glenn manufacturing ramp — if TeraWave (5,000+ sats by 2027) is real, it's an anchor tenant for New Glenn cadence that doesn't depend on government contracts. Blue Origin's concentration across lunar (VIPER, LTV, Blue Moon, Project Ignition Phase 3) + commercial LEO (TeraWave, Project Sunrise) is the inverse of "single-player dependency" — but all depends on a single entity (Blue Origin) executing across a very wide front.

**Extraction hints:**
1. Claim about Project Sunrise + SpaceX filing as an orbital compute race (regulatory/strategic positioning vs. genuine technical readiness)
2. Claim about Blue Origin's strategic portfolio concentration (lunar + LEO + orbital compute) as a new single-entity dependency risk
3. Claim about solar-powered orbital compute as an alternative energy path for AI infrastructure

**Context:** Filed 60 days after SpaceX's 1M satellite filing. Amazon is challenging SpaceX at FCC. The astronomy community is concerned about all large constellations. Regulatory outcome uncertain.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: Connects to SpaceX 1M satellite filing and the "launch cost is keystone" claim; also to "single-player dependency" risk (Blue Origin's overextension)
WHY ARCHIVED: Two competing orbital compute proposals in 90 days is a structural pattern worth capturing, separate from whether the technology works
EXTRACTION HINT: The most extractable claim is about orbital compute as regulatory positioning vs. genuine readiness — the extractor should check whether any actual satellite hardware is under construction for either project
