Startup EON bets on laser satellites to link data centers from orbit

As hyperscalers build data centers worldwide, they rely heavily on a brittle network of undersea fiberoptic cables to move data between them — cables that are hard to access, repair, or install, while radio-based wireless alternatives lack the bandwidth. Endeavor Optical Networks (EON), a startup founded in May and emerging from stealth today with $10.75 million in seed funding from General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz, is betting lasers can do the job instead. Co-founders CEO Charlie Horowitz and CTO Tyler Presser aim to launch a network of laser-equipped spacecraft to link data centers from orbit.

Most satellite networks, even broadband ones, can’t carry data at 200 terabits a second or more, the speed of undersea fiber. But more powerful satellites and optical advances are making space-to-ground laser links more feasible: NASA used laser comms to send back data from its most recent moon mission, and private space companies including York, Kepler, and Cailabs have demonstrated Earth-orbit-to-ground links, though at a throughput of 2.5 Gbps. EON is starting with a bigger goal, Horowitz says: 2.4 terabits a second, which will require solving how laser signals distort as they pass through the atmosphere, particularly through clouds.

EON plans a network of about 20 satellites, each providing a dedicated link between two continents, with the initial fleet offering 24-hour coverage for early customers, using redundant ground stations chosen with weather data in mind. The company is targeting hyperscalers and AI labs, focusing on underserved or expensive routes such as France to Australia, or connections between Africa and South America.

The seed round will fund an optics lab, more engineers, and ground tests ahead of a demo satellite EON hopes to launch around the end of 2027, which Horowitz expects to offer at least 800 gigabits and perhaps a terabit of optical downlink throughput — the highest yet seen. “We have one rule at the company: no physics problems,” Horowitz said, framing EON’s bet as serving a market that already exists rather than a speculative one.

EON isn’t alone: Blue Origin has announced TeraWave, a more ambitious 5,048-satellite network aiming for speeds up to 6 Tbps, though it will take longer to deploy. Quilty Space research director Caleb Henry cautioned that satellite internet is “just now progressing from a technology of last resort to dependable, high-bandwidth infrastructure,” and that building data-center-grade satellite links will take longer than most entrepreneurs suggest.

Why it matters

If laser-satellite links prove reliable at the throughput EON is promising, hyperscalers could gain a faster way to add capacity between data centers than waiting years for new undersea cables — though the seed-stage company still has to prove the physics works at scale before any of that changes.