EON's Space Shift: Lasers Replacing Ocean's Data Backbone

As global hyperscalers expand their data center infrastructure, the critical need to transfer vast amounts of data relies heavily on an often-fragile network of undersea fiber optic cables spanning the world's oceans.

These crucial cables present significant challenges in terms of installation, access, and repair. While alternatives are scarce, traditional radio transmissions lack the necessary bandwidth, ruling out most terrestrial or orbital wireless solutions. However, laser technology is now emerging as a promising contender to fulfill this vital role.

Endeavor Optical Networks (EON), a startup founded in May and recently emerging from stealth mode, is staking its future on this potential with $10.75 million in seed funding from General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz. Co-founders Charlie Horowitz (CEO) and Tyler Presser (CTO) envision deploying an orbital network of laser-equipped spacecraft to establish high-speed links between data centers globally.

Most existing satellite communications networks, even those providing broadband internet, are not robust enough to handle the immense data volumes—200 terabits per second or more—that undersea fiber optics currently deliver.

Nevertheless, advancements in satellite capabilities and optical technology are making space-to-ground laser communications increasingly viable. NASA, for instance, successfully employed laser communications to transmit data from its latest Moon mission, and several private space companies, including York, Kepler, and Cailabs, have demonstrated orbital-to-ground laser links.

These prior demonstrations typically achieved throughputs of around 2.5 Gbps. EON, however, sets a significantly higher initial target of 2.4 terabits per second, as stated by Horowitz. Achieving this will require proprietary innovations to overcome one of the primary hurdles in laser communications: atmospheric distortion, particularly signal obstruction caused by clouds.

EON plans to construct a constellation of approximately 20 satellites, each designed to provide a dedicated, high-capacity link between two continents. The initial fleet aims to offer continuous 24-hour coverage for its early clientele. The company will strategically select ground stations across various regions to serve local data centers and CDNs, utilizing redundant sites and leveraging real-time weather data to ensure unwavering link reliability.

The startup is actively engaging with hyperscalers and AI labs, recognizing them as the largest data movers, and is focusing on underserved or expensive routes. This includes lengthy connections like France to Australia, or regions with limited existing infrastructure, such as crossings between Africa and South America. EON intends to attract customers by selling dedicated capacity, granting them full control over their data transit.

Initially, EON will utilize its seed funding to establish an advanced optics laboratory, expand its engineering team, and conduct comprehensive ground tests. These efforts will precede the launch of a demonstration satellite, anticipated around the end of 2027. Horowitz expects this spacecraft to achieve an unprecedented optical downlink throughput, projected at a minimum of 800 gigabits and potentially reaching a full terabit.

Realizing this ambition demands meticulous engineering. EON will concentrate on developing its optical communications terminal, carefully allocating resources to precision components such as the gimbals responsible for laser pointing. For the satellite platforms themselves, the company plans to procure powerful, off-the-shelf satellite buses, similar to those manufactured by Apex Space, Horowitz's former employer.

Horowitz previously served as Chief of Staff to Apex CEO Ian Cinnamon, and later as the company’s Director of Special Projects. Cinnamon praised Horowitz, telling TechCrunch, “Charlie is a force of nature—he can move seamlessly from strategy to the details required to make something real.” He added, “Charlie is the ideal founder, and I invested personally because I believe deeply in Charlie and what he’s building at EON with Tyler.”

Beyond CTO Tyler Presser, a PhD astronautical engineer with experience in planning frontier missions for NASA, EON’s technical leadership includes Michael David Francois, a long-serving Google executive specializing in global network infrastructure, and Wesley Baxter, an optics engineer who most recently contributed to Amazon’s Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network.

Jeannette zu Fürstenburg, the General Catalyst partner who spearheaded the investment, sees EON as a convergence of the fund's two primary investment themes: AI and resilience. Addressing the market, she told TechCrunch, “I don’t worry about demand. I think all of that will solve for itself.” Her focus is on execution: “It’s really all about can you actually get this thing into space in the time that we discussed? We really think about founder-product fit, [Horowitz] is just the right caliber of guy to go after a problem like this.”

EON is not the sole entity pursuing this challenge. Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, has announced plans for TeraWave, a vast 5,048-satellite network aiming to deliver speeds of up to 6 Tbps to large-scale users. While Blue Origin’s vision is more expansive, it will also necessitate a longer timeline for launch and deployment. EON’s smaller satellite fleet offers the advantage of quicker orbital deployment, though both companies will contend with many of the same complex technical hurdles.

“Data centers have high standards for quality and redundancy,” observes Caleb Henry, Director of Research at Quilty Space. He notes, “Satellite internet is just now progressing from a technology of last resort to dependable, high-bandwidth infrastructure.” While acknowledging the feasibility of optimizing satellites for data center connectivity, Henry cautions, “That’s not to say it will be impossible... just that it will be harder and take longer than most entrepreneurs suggest.” Nevertheless, he posits that EON's project is a more practical approach compared to the more ambitious concept of constructing data centers in space itself.

Horowitz underscores EON's foundational principle: “We have one rule at the company: no physics problems.” He emphasizes the immediate market opportunity, stating, “There’s a market that exists today that we can go serve.” Looking ahead, he adds, “Down the road, we’ll go and take on more as it comes, but we know that this is a problem that exists today, that’s only getting worse. That’s our bet—more data is moving terrestrially than ever.”