Starlink Competition: 5,000+ Satellites Launching in 2024

Bezos’s Bold Space Plays: Blue Origin’s Terawave and Amazon Leo Challenge Starlink’s Dominance

A new space race is heating up, with Jeff Bezos’s companies, Blue Origin and Amazon, making significant investments in satellite internet constellations too rival Elon Musk’s Starlink. On January 21, 2026, Blue Origin announced plans to launch 5,408 satellites, while Amazon’s Leo constellation is already in orbit and expanding, signaling a persistent effort to capture a substantial share of the burgeoning satellite internet market.

Blue Origin’s Terawave: Targeting Enterprise Customers

Blue Origin is poised to launch its Terawave constellation,comprised of 5,408 satellites,into low and medium Earth orbit. According to a company release, Terawave is designed to meet the specific needs of enterprise customers, including data centers and government entities, by offering “higher throughput, symmetrical upload/download speeds, more redundancy, and rapid scalability.” The first satellite deployment is anticipated near the end of 2027.

The Terawave system will leverage both medium Earth orbit (MEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to deliver impressive speeds. Blue Origin projects speeds up to 6 Tbps through optical connectivity via 128 MEO satellites and 144 gbps through 5,280 LEO satellites. While this move directly competes with Starlink, a key difference lies in the target audience; Starlink currently caters to both residential and enterprise users, while Blue Origin, at least initially, is focusing exclusively on businesses.

Did you know? – MEO satellites orbit at altitudes between LEO and geostationary orbit, offering a balance of coverage and latency. Blue Origin’s use of both MEO and LEO is a unique approach to maximizing performance.

Amazon Leo: A Growing Alternative to Starlink

jeff Bezos, though no longer CEO of Amazon, continues to shape the company’s future, and a significant part of that vision is Amazon Leo, a satellite constellation providing high-speed internet access.Formerly known as Project Kuiper, a reference to the Kuiper Belt, the constellation was rebranded to reflect its low Earth orbit designation after the initial satellites were deployed.

Amazon Leo currently offers download speeds up to 1 gbps and upload speeds up to 400 mbps, positioning it as a strong alternative to Starlink. Users can choose from three receiver options – nano, Pro, and Ultra – varying in size from a seven-by-seven-inch square to 20 x 30 x 1.9 inches. Amazon already has over 3,000 Leo satellites in orbit and plans to add more with the Ariane 6 rocket as early as February 12, 2026.

Pro tip – Satellite internet performance can be affected by weather conditions and obstructions like trees. Optimal receiver placement is crucial for a stable connection.

The Satellite Landscape: Starlink Still Leads, But Competition is Intensifying

Despite the enterprising plans of Blue Origin and Amazon, Elon Musk’s Starlink currently maintains a significant lead in terms of the number of satellites in orbit. after launching dozens of new satellites in 2025,spacex is nearing 10,000 satellites in orbit.leo constellations, the total number of satellites still falls short of Starlink’s current deployment. Though, the entrance of blue Origin and the continued expansion of Amazon Leo are undeniably intensifying competition in the satellite internet market, promising innovation and possibly lower costs for consumers and businesses alike.

Reader question – How will the increasing number of satellites in LEO affect astronomical observations? what measures are being taken to mitigate light pollution?

Why: The satellite internet market is expanding, prompting competition between Elon Musk’s Starlink and new ventures from Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and