Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin reveals 51,600 satellite space data center plans — Project Sunrise will operate in sun-synchronous orbits between 500–1,800km in altitude

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Bezos rocket firm’s FCC filing asserts its space clutter will serve the public interest by removing roadblocks in AI and cloud services provision.

Project Sunrise
The Blue Origin engine shop at Rocket Park. (Image credit: Blue Origin)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has revealed its plans to launch up to 51,600 satellites to create a data center constellation in space. The filing was posted for the public to view by the FCC on Thursday (via The Register), with explanations of Blue Origin’s goals and details of how ‘Project Sunrise’ is of benefit to the public interest.

Blue Origin’s application to the FCC starts by sketching out the scale of the proposed constellation. Project Sunrise “will consist of up to 51,600 satellites operating in circular, sun-synchronous orbits from 500–1,800 km in altitude, with inclinations between 97 degrees and 104 degrees, with each orbital plane containing approximately 300–1,000 satellites,” a rather technical description reads.

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Project Sunrise

(Image credit: Blue Origin)

Of course, this colossal project and undoubted billions in investment are destined to complement the insatiable demand for Artificial Intelligence data processing on Earth with space-based data centers. Project Sunrise will “make AI computer more accessible,” argues the FCC filing, by ensuring the “societal benefits of AI” aren’t bottlenecked by terrestrial data centers.

It is hard to deny that the efficiencies of always-on solar power and the removal of land use/costs are attractive aspects of this space-based project. But satellite constellations will have their own uniquely significant costs. Clearly, it will not be cheap to make this complex, custom hardware and send it to space. Then it will require servicing and maintenance – for example.

As this is an FCC filing, Blue Origin also appealed to the regulator by insisting that Project Sunrise will “use spectrum efficiently and operate on a non-interference basis.” In case you are curious about the spectrum, the constellation will use the 18.8–19.3 GHz (space-to-Earth) and 28.6–29.1 GHz (Earth-to-space) bands.

Blue Origin also states that “safety is core” to the project. That’s a little reassuring after reading recent reports about satellite proliferation, density-induced near-misses, and terminal anomalies.

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bit_user
    I think this is a direct response to SpaceX's recent filing of similar plans.

    There's a phenomenon in markets, where the market develops a sort of "group think" and does something dumb, on the hunch that one actor doing something seemingly nonsensical knows something the others don't. So, they move in the same direction, not wanting to be caught out, if it turns out the first one is right. If the first one really was acting on bad information or analysis, then the whole group can find itself out on a limb.

    I think this broadly characterizes the AI boom and specifically explains the sudden push for orbital data centers. Time will tell whether or not it really does make sense, at this point in time. Eventually, I think it probably does. I'm just not convinced we're close to that point.
    Reply
  • Shiznizzle
    We need to now have a world wide agreement on launches to space and how to deal with what they launch after they are done with them. Scientists are now sounding the alarm bells. They are saying that what is in space now, is obstructing research. And we want to add to that?

    Even the detection of objects on a collision course with earth could be impeded by greed.

    Just like with tech, Ai and space, the law is behind once again.
    Reply
  • Sam Hobbs
    I had a conversation with Perplexity AI. When I first asked if a term such as sun-visible is more understandable than sun-synchronous it said no but then I was able to get it to understand better and said simplifying to "ends up in almost continuous sunlight" captures the practical benefit cleanly for non-technical audiences without the orbital mechanics weeds. It's cute that it used the word weeds in that context.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Sam Hobbs said:
    I had a conversation with Perplexity AI. When I first asked if a term such as sun-visible is more understandable than sun-synchronous it said no but then I was able to get it to understand better and said simplifying to "ends up in almost continuous sunlight" captures the practical benefit cleanly for non-technical audiences without the orbital mechanics weeds. It's cute that it used the word weeds in that context.
    "Sun-synchronous orbit" (or heliosynchronous orbit) is a technical term. This is a technical site. I think the authors shouldn't shy away from using such terms, but should instead add explanation or links, where there's good reason to believe some readers might be unfamiliar with them.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun-synchronous_orbit
    Also, I don't care what Perplexity or any other chatbot thinks about this. If I wanted to read tech news written by AI, I'd be looking elsewhere.
    Reply
  • Sam Hobbs
    bit_user said:
    If I wanted to read tech news written by AI, I'd be looking elsewhere.
    AI gets tech news from elsewhere. It does not make it up.

    bit_user said:
    This is a technical site.
    I am a computer software person, not an astrophysicist. Most members here are not astrophysicists. Even as a software person I often need a less technical explanation of computer terms. At the moment I am learning Prompt Engineering and terms used in that context can be confusing, I frequently ask AI for a more understandable explanation.
    Reply