---
type: source
title: "Blue Origin Project Sunrise — FCC Filing for 51,600 Orbital Data Center Satellites"
author: "SpaceNews (@SpaceNews)"
url: https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-joins-the-orbital-data-center-race/
date: 2026-03-20
domain: space-development
secondary_domains: [energy]
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: astra
processed_date: 2026-04-14
priority: high
tags: [orbital-data-centers, Blue-Origin, Project-Sunrise, FCC, TeraWave, SSO, feasibility]
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

Blue Origin filed FCC application for "Project Sunrise" on March 19, 2026 — a constellation of up to 51,600 data center satellites in sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), 500-1,800 km altitude.

**Technical specifications:**
- Sun-synchronous orbit: 500-1,800 km altitude
- Orbital planes: 5-10 km apart in altitude
- Satellites per plane: 300-1,000
- Primary inter-satellite links: TeraWave optical (laser links)
- Ground-to-space: Ka-band TT&C
- First 5,000+ TeraWave sats planned by end 2027

**Architecture:**
- TeraWave optical ISL mesh for high-throughput backbone
- Route traffic through ground stations via TeraWave and other mesh networks
- Blue Origin filing simultaneously for TeraWave as the communications backbone for Project Sunrise satellites

**Blue Origin's stated rationale:**
- "Project Sunrise will ease mounting pressure on US communities and natural resources by shifting energy- and water-intensive compute away from terrestrial data centres, reducing demand on land, water supplies and electrical grids"
- Solar-powered; bypasses terrestrial power grid constraints

**Timeline assessment (multiple sources):**
- "Such projects are unlikely to come to fruition until the 2030s"
- Still in regulatory approval phase

**Context notes:**
- SpaceX's 1M satellite filing (January 30, 2026) predated Blue Origin's March 19 filing by 7 weeks
- Blue Origin's 51,600 represents ~22% of the MIT TR-cited total LEO capacity of ~240,000 satellites
- Unlike SpaceX's 1M (physically impossible), Blue Origin's 51,600 is within LEO orbital capacity limits

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** Blue Origin's filing is physically feasible in a way SpaceX's 1M is not — 51,600 satellites is within LEO capacity limits. The SSO 500-1800km altitude is a much harsher radiation environment than Starcloud-1's 325km demo. And Blue Origin doesn't have a proven small-scale ODC demonstrator the way Starcloud does — this goes straight from concept to 51,600-satellite constellation.

**What surprised me:** The simultaneous TeraWave filing — Blue Origin is building the communications backbone AS a constellation, not using Starlink. This is a vertically integrated play (like SpaceX's stack) but using optical ISL (not RF). TeraWave could become an independent communications product, separate from Project Sunrise.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any mention of Blue Origin's thermal management approach. Unlike Starcloud (which specifically highlights radiator development), Blue Origin's filing doesn't discuss how 51,600 data center satellites handle heat rejection. This is a major gap — either it's in the classified annexes, or it hasn't been solved.

**KB connections:** [[SpaceX vertical integration across launch broadband and manufacturing creates compounding cost advantages that no competitor can replicate piecemeal]] — Blue Origin is attempting a parallel vertical integration (New Glenn for launch + TeraWave for comms + Project Sunrise for compute), but without the Starlink demand anchor that funds SpaceX's learning curve.

**Extraction hints:**
- Note: 51,600 satellites × SSO 500-1800km = very different radiation environment from Starcloud-1's 325km. The entire Starcloud-1 validation doesn't apply.
- Claim candidate: Blue Origin's Project Sunrise is physically feasible in terms of LEO orbital capacity (51,600 < 240,000 total LEO capacity) but enters a radiation environment and thermal management regime that has no demonstrated precedent for commercial GPU-class hardware.

## Curator Notes
PRIMARY CONNECTION: SpaceX vertical integration across launch broadband and manufacturing — this is Blue Origin's attempted counter-flywheel, but using compute+comms instead of broadband as the demand anchor.
WHY ARCHIVED: The competing major constellation filing to SpaceX's, with different architecture and different feasibility profile.
EXTRACTION HINT: The SSO altitude radiation environment distinction from Starcloud-1's 325km demo is the key technical gap to extract.
