The American startup Endeavor Optical Networks (EON) is set to launch a satellite network that will transmit data between continents using laser beams. The company has successfully raised $10.75 million in a seed funding round led by General Catalyst and a16z, as reported by TechCrunch.
Founded in May 2026 by Charlie Horowitz (CEO) and Tyler Presser (CTO), EON aims to provide an alternative to undersea fiber optic cables through a constellation of 20 satellites equipped with laser optical terminals in low Earth orbit. Each satellite is designed to establish a dedicated channel between two continents, targeting a throughput of 2.4 Tbps.
For context, existing demonstration laser channels from York, Kepler, and Cailabs, which operate between orbit and Earth, achieve speeds of up to 2.5 Gbps.
The primary technical challenge for this technology lies in atmospheric distortions and cloud cover. To address this issue, EON plans to carefully select ground stations based on meteorological data.
A demonstration satellite is expected to launch by the end of 2027. By that time, Horowitz estimates that their device will be capable of delivering signals from space to Earth at speeds of at least 800-1000 Gbps.
According to reports, the funds from the seed round will be utilized for setting up an optical lab, hiring engineers, and conducting ground tests. EON intends to purchase its satellite chassis from manufacturers like Apex Space, where Horowitz previously served as director of special projects.
Target Customers, Routes, and Competition
EON's target market includes hyperscalers and AI laboratories. The leadership aims to prioritize routes lacking developed infrastructure or with high traffic costs, such as France to Australia and Africa to South America.
The company plans to sell dedicated capacity rather than sharing bandwidth among users.
The technical team is bolstered by Michael David Francois, a former head of global network infrastructure at Google, and Wesley Baxter, an optical engineer from Amazon's low Earth orbit satellite network team.
This is not the first venture into laser data transmission technology; Blue Origin is developing TeraWave, a network of 5,408 satellites capable of delivering data speeds of up to 6 Tbps. While Jeff Bezos's ambitions are higher, so are the timelines for deployment. EON's strategy focuses on speed to market with a smaller fleet.
It’s worth noting that in March, The Economist predicted the dawn of an era for space data centers.
Previously, Aetherflux announced plans for a pilot program to deliver energy via lasers from space in 2026.