Points of Focus

• Solana’s Constellation design removes the single-leader control over transaction ordering.
• The protocol introduces multiple concurrent proposers with enforced ordering rules at 50ms cycles.
• Validator incentives remain intact, but control over inclusion and sequencing moves to protocol logic.

Solana’s core development team at Anza introduced a new protocol design called Constellation on March 25, 2026 that restructures how transactions are ordered on the network. The change targets a long-standing issue in blockchain systems: the temporary control a single leader has over which transactions get included and in what order. 

By replacing that model with multiple concurrent proposers, Solana shifts transaction ordering from validator discretion to enforced protocol rules.

Constellation removes single-leader control over transaction ordering

In Solana’s current design, one validator acts as leader for a short window, collecting transactions and ordering them. That structure improves efficiency but concentrates control in one validator. Constellation removes that monopoly entirely.

Instead of a single leader deciding everything multiple proposers collect and submit transactions simultaneously. A separate group called attesters records which transactions were observed and when. The leader still assembles the block, but it must include transactions that attesters confirm, limiting its ability to reorder or exclude them.

This changes how ordering works at the protocol level. Ordering is no longer flexible based on who controls the slot. It becomes constrained by rules that every validator can verify.

Introducing Constellation: a multiple concurrent proposers protocol for Solana. With proposers operating on a 50ms cycle, Constellation gives Solana the fastest protocol enforced economic tick rate of any blockchain.🧵 pic.twitter.com/AjeeCy506h

— Anza (@anza_xyz) March 25, 2026

Multiple proposers introduce deterministic ordering at 50ms cycles

Constellation operates on fixed 50-millisecond cycles. In each cycle, proposers submit batches of transactions, attesters timestamp and forward them, and the leader compiles the final batch.

This creates what Anza defines as a protocol-enforced economic tick. Instead of waiting for a single leader’s decisions, the network processes competing transaction inputs in parallel and merges them using deterministic rules.

The design directly changes how high-value transactions compete. If a transaction is visible to enough attesters and carries a competitive fee, it must be included. A leader can’t ignore it or replace it with a lower-value transaction without producing an invalid block.

Validator economics stay stable, but control over ordering changes

The change doesn’t remove validator incentives. Transactions still pay inclusion fees and priority fees, and validators continue to earn based on stake weight. What changes is who ultimately controls transaction ordering.

Previously, the leader could influence ordering outcomes during its slot. Under Constellation, that influence is reduced. Ordering decisions shift to a shared process shaped by proposer inputs and attester verification.

This matters because it changes how value is extracted from transactions. Many blockchain designs attempt to manage extractable value by redistributing it. Constellation takes a different direction by limiting how much control any single participant has in the first place, as outlined in its March 2026 whitepaper.

How Constellation differs from Firedancer’s validator upgrade

Constellation changes how transactions are ordered at the protocol level, while Firedancer changes how validators process them. Firedancer, developed by Jump Crypto, is a high-performance validator client designed to improve throughput and network reliability by rewriting Solana’s validator software.

Constellation does not replace the validator client. Instead, it introduces rules that all clients must follow when ordering transactions. In practice, Firedancer can make Solana faster and more efficient, while Constellation changes who controls ordering and how that control is constrained.

Why this design targets fairness instead of just throughput

The Constellation model focuses on market structure, not just speed. The whitepaper frames the problem as one of fairness: when a single actor can observe and reorder transactions, users can be disadvantaged even if the network remains fast.

By distributing proposal rights and enforcing inclusion rules, the system reduces the ability to selectively censor or reorder transactions for gain. These constraints remain enforced even during periods of high transaction demand.

The result is a shift in how Solana handles transaction competition at the protocol level. Instead of relying on trusted behavior from a rotating leader, the network moves toward rules that define what must be included and how transactions are ordered.