Blue Origin launches Quartz global ground station network

Blue Origin said August 13 it has begun a global rollout of Quartz, a new ground-station network for satellite communications, tracking and telemetry, with its first three 3.7-meter S-band and X-band antennas installed and tested in Bermuda, New Zealand and Australia as part of a nine-site buildout planned by year-end. The company built the network with partner RBC Signals, whose existing ground-station business will host the new sites and resell unused capacity to other satellite operators, giving Blue Origin a new infrastructure business alongside its rockets, landers and satellite programs.