Google is getting ready to send its AI chips into space for the first time as part of Project Suncatcher, a research project that could eventually put AI computing systems in orbit.
The company plans to launch a prototype satellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission. The satellite, developed with satellite company Planet, will carry Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and test how they perform in space. Google announced the plans on September 24.
The first mission will focus on some basic but important questions. Google wants to know whether its AI chips can survive the strong forces of a rocket launch, radiation in space and large changes in temperature. The company will also test how it can keep the chips cool while they are running.
This is an early test, not a space-based data center. Google is using the mission to collect information that could help it decide how future satellites should be built.
Google Explores AI Computing in Space
Google announced Project Suncatcher as a research effort to study the possibility of moving some AI computing from Earth into space.
The long-term idea is to place satellites with AI chips in low Earth orbit and connect them so they can work together. Google believes satellites could make use of the large amount of sunlight available in space to produce electricity for these systems.
According to Google, solar panels in some orbits could receive enough sunlight to generate up to eight times more energy than similar panels on Earth. The idea comes as AI companies need more computing power. Building more data centers on Earth requires large amounts of electricity, land and cooling.
Google is exploring whether satellites could provide another option in the future. But there are still many technical problems to solve before that becomes possible.
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Google Will Put Its TPUs Through Real Space Tests
The first satellite will put Google’s TPUs through several tests. One challenge is the launch itself. A rocket produces strong vibration and acceleration as it carries a spacecraft into orbit.
Google says the trip to low Earth orbit takes about 10 minutes. During that journey, the spacecraft can experience forces of up to 10 times Earth’s gravity. Some individual parts can experience forces of around 50 to 100 times gravity.
Google has already carried out vibration tests on the satellite to see how it handles these conditions. Radiation is another concern. Space exposes electronic equipment to radiation from the Sun and other sources. This radiation can sometimes cause errors in computer hardware by changing individual bits of data.
Google tested its Trillium TPUs with a proton beam at the University of California, Davis’ Crocker Nuclear Laboratory. The chips were running AI workloads during the tests. Google said the results showed that the TPUs could handle a total radiation dose higher than the amount expected during a five-year mission.
But testing on Earth cannot reproduce every condition the chips will face in space. The upcoming mission will give Google a chance to see how the hardware performs in real conditions.
Google Faces a Major Cooling Challenge in Space
Cooling is another major problem for AI hardware in space. AI processors produce heat when they run. On Earth, data centers use systems such as air and liquid cooling to remove that heat. In space, there is no air around a spacecraft to carry heat away.
Google is testing a system that uses heat pipes and radiators. The heat pipes will move heat away from the TPUs, while radiators will release that heat into space. Google has already tested the system in a thermal-vacuum chamber that recreates some of the conditions found in space.
The first mission will show whether the cooling system works as expected when the hardware is actually in orbit.
Google Plans High-Speed Laser Links for AI Satellites
The first satellite is just one part of Google’s larger plan. If the company eventually wants several satellites to work together on AI tasks, they will need to exchange large amounts of data.
Google plans to test this in a later stage of Project Suncatcher. The company expects to send two satellites into orbit in 2027 to test high-speed laser communication between them.
The laser links would allow satellites to send data to one another at high speeds. This could eventually help several satellites work together as one computing system.
Keeping the connection between moving satellites will be a difficult engineering problem. The laser systems will need to point at each other very accurately while both spacecraft are moving through orbit.
Google Sees Space as a New Source of Power for AI
One of the main reasons for Google’s interest is electricity. AI systems need a lot of computing power, and that means data centers need a lot of electricity. Companies are already looking for new ways to meet the growing demand for AI computing.
Satellites in certain orbits can receive sunlight for much longer periods than solar panels on Earth. Google believes this could give space-based computing systems access to a large and steady source of solar energy.
The company says solar panels in suitable orbits could generate up to eight times more energy than similar panels on Earth. But there are major costs and technical problems to consider.
Satellites have to be launched into orbit, and replacing or repairing equipment in space is much harder than doing the same work in a data center on Earth. Radiation, cooling, communications and hardware reliability also remain challenges.
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Google Will Use the First Mission to Plan Future Suncatcher Tests
Google is not presenting the first Suncatcher satellite as a finished product. The company wants to learn how its AI chips perform in orbit and find problems that may not have appeared during testing on Earth.
The results could help Google improve future satellites and prepare for the planned laser communication test in 2027. The bigger goal is to find out whether AI computing can eventually be spread across a network of satellites. For now, however, that remains a research project.
The upcoming mission will be Google’s first chance to test the idea with real AI hardware in space. If the chips work as expected, Google will have a better understanding of what it would take to build larger AI computing systems in orbit.
