Google 'Project Suncatcher' gets major boost in exploring whether space could potentially host large-scale AI data center. Check top pointers here

Alphabet's Google said on Thursday it will launch a prototype satellite next week in its first in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, a research effort to explore whether space could potentially host large-scale AI computing infrastructure.

Companies including SpaceX and Starcloud are pursuing plans to deploy data centers in low Earth orbit, aiming to harness near-continuous sunlight to power energy-intensive AI computing and sidestep terrestrial constraints on electricity supplies.

SpaceX's upcoming Transporter-18 Rideshare


The new mission, scheduled to fly on SpaceX's upcoming Transporter-18 rideshare launch in partnership with satellite company Planet Labs, will assess how Google's AI hardware withstands launch forces, radiation and extreme temperatures in LEO.

After the launch, it will send a prototype satellite carrying Google Tensor Processing Units into low Earth orbit to assess if the AI chips can operate reliably in space.

Space radiation can disrupt or degrade electronics, including by causing data errors known as bit flips.

Google said it tested its TPUs while running AI workloads in a facility at the University of California, Davis, but that orbital testing was needed to understand how the hardware performs in the real environment.

The company will also evaluate its design to cool the power-intensive chips in the vacuum of space, where conventional airflow cooling is impossible, by combining heat pipes with radiators.

But experts have said that the concept remains years from being commercially viable given high launch costs, engineering constraints and satellite production bottlenecks.

Google Suncatcher

The first Suncatcher mission is designed to gather in-orbit data and identify potential failure points, rather than demonstrate an operational orbital data center, Google said.

It aims to launch two satellites in 2027 to test the high-bandwidth laser links needed to connect future computing clusters.

Earlier in May, Google has said it has been in discussions with Elon Musk's SpaceX and others regarding future launches ​for its Project Suncatcher, an orbital data center project.

Google ‌is pushing the space-based data center idea with Project Suncatcher, a research effort to network solar-powered satellites equipped with its Tensor Processing ​Units into an orbital AI cloud. The company plans ​an initial prototype launch with partner Planet Labs ⁠around 2027.

Developing its space-based ​orbital data ⁠centers is one of the major drivers behind SpaceX's IPO plans, as the endeavor is ​expected to be highly capital intensive and technologically ​challenging.