Google has sent its AI chips into space aboard a prototype satellite for Project Suncatcher.
Built with Planet, the spacecraft launched on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 mission on October 1. Google says contact is established and the satellite is operating normally. The experiment will study how its TPU chips handle radiation and temperature extremes.
It is an early step toward exploring future AI data centers powered by sunlight in orbit, with long-term performance and commercial feasibility still to be established.