The American startup Endeavor Optical Networks (EON) plans to launch a satellite network to transmit data between continents using laser beams. The startup raised $10.75 million in a seed round led by General Catalyst and a16z, according to TechCrunch.
Founded in May 2026 by Charlie Horowitz (CEO) and Tyler Presser (CTO), the company aims to provide an alternative to undersea fiber-optic cables with a network of 20 satellites equipped with laser optical terminals in low Earth orbit. Each satellite is expected to offer a dedicated channel between two continents with a target bandwidth of 2.4 Tbps.
For comparison, existing demonstration laser channels from York, Kepler, and Cailabs achieve 2.5 Gbps.
The main technical challenge for this technology is atmospheric distortion and cloud cover. The company plans to address this by carefully selecting ground stations based on meteorological data.
A demonstration satellite is expected by the end of 2027. By then, Horowitz estimates their device will be able to deliver signals from the satellite to Earth at speeds of at least 800-1000 Gbps.
According to media reports, the seed round funds will be used for equipping an optical laboratory, hiring engineers, and conducting ground tests. EON plans to purchase ready-made satellite chassis, particularly from Apex Space, where Horowitz previously served as Director of Special Projects.
Clients, Routes, and Competitors
EON’s target audience includes hyperscalers and AI labs. The management plans to prioritize routes lacking developed infrastructure or with high traffic costs, such as France to Australia and Africa to South America.
The company will sell dedicated capacity rather than sharing bandwidth among users.
The technical team is strengthened by Michael David Francois, former head of Google’s global network infrastructure, and Wesley Baxter, an optical engineer from Amazon’s low Earth orbit satellite network team.
The startup is not the first to develop laser data transmission technologies. Blue Origin is working on TeraWave, a network of 5,408 satellites capable of providing data transmission speeds up to 6 Tbps. Jeff Bezos’s company has higher ambitions, but the deployment timeline is also longer. EON’s strategy is to enter the market quickly with a smaller fleet.
Earlier, in March, The Economist predicted an era of space-based data centers.
Previously, Aetherflux planned a pilot program for laser-based energy delivery from space in 2026.
