Alphabet’s Google will kick in its “Project Suncatcher,” under which the Big Tech player will launch a prototype satellite this week in its first in-orbit test, which will explore whether space could potentially host large-scale AI computing infrastructure.
“After years of research, Project Suncatcher is scheduled to embark on its first test in orbit, launching a prototype satellite to evaluate how Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) perform in space,” the tech giant stated in its blog.
However, Google is not alone in this ambitious effort, as SpaceX and Starcloud are pursuing similar 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.
Announced in 2025, Project Suncatcher is a long-term, research moonshot exploring whether space could one day host scalable machine learning infrastructure.
“In low Earth orbit, satellites can access near-constant sunlight, generating up to eight times more solar power than on Earth. Eventually, it could be possible to link together multiple constellations of satellites, allowing them to manage larger AI workloads while in orbit,” Google said.
This week’s mission will see Google using its rival SpaceX’s upcoming Transporter-18 rideshare launch in partnership with satellite company Planet Labs.
Google’s AI hardware, once it reaches the space, will go through tests to prove its endurance against factors like launch forces, radiation, and extreme temperatures in LEO.
“Big breakthroughs happen when you work backwards from an end goal. In our case, it’s to ensure AI’s profound benefits in key areas, from healthcare to scientific discovery, can reach everyone, far into the future. Just as early research into autonomous driving and quantum computing required years of experimentation before we got to practical systems, exploring compute in space begins with measured, deliberate steps,” Google wrote in its blog.
“As Google prepares for an early test launch and works toward its next milestone in 2027, the Project Suncatcher team discussed what we hope to learn and the engineering hurdles ahead in a new video series digging into the science behind the mission,” the Big Tech player stated further.
A rocket trip into low Earth orbit lasts about 10 minutes, during which the spacecraft experiences intense vibration and sustained acceleration loads up to 10 times the force of gravity, or g-force.
Individual components, such as the TPU chips, can experience even greater forces up to 50 to 100 g.
The Project Suncatcher team has already conducted vibration testing by intensely shaking the satellite on all three axes to mimic the frequencies of a rocket launch.
“Once the TPU chips make it to space, the level of radiation outside the Earth’s atmosphere presents another challenge to overcome. Solar events and cosmic rays can wreak havoc on electronics, so our team tested TPUs in a proton beam facility at UC Davis’s Crocker Nuclear Laboratory while running AI workloads. During the test, we monitored closely to see how errors, like a bitflip, would affect our workloads. Initial results have indicated that our Trillium TPUs hold up remarkably well and can survive a radiation total ionizing dose greater than what they would receive during a five-year space mission,” Google said.
“But some things can only be tested in space. Putting our first TPUs in orbit next week will help us gather data and insights for our future launches,” it continued.
Cooling orbital data centers is a crucial research challenge. TPUs generate a large amount of heat in a small area, which needs to be diffused safely, or the chips are at risk of overheating. However, in space, there’s no airflow.
As per the project team, in a vacuum, heat can only be diffused via radiators, which requires an entirely different approach to cooling electronics.
“We’re working on a number of different approaches for the project, including a combination of heat pipes and radiators to cool the chips. So far, our team has tested the technology in a thermal vacuum chamber that simulates both the thermal and vacuum environments in space. We’ll see how our new TPU cooling system works in space and refine our designs as we learn more,” Google said.
Future designs of Google’s satellites will each carry dozens of TPU chips while orbiting the Earth in clusters.
To maintain the bandwidth necessary to process AI, every satellite has to know both its position and where it sits relative to its neighbors.
To make sure that the satellites perform in the above-mentioned manner, Google will use laser-powered communication methods.
“The technology in space already exists, but most state-of-the-art systems are optimized for low bandwidth across large distances, whereas our lasers need to operate at very high bandwidth over extremely short distances. Maintaining the necessary connection requires extraordinary precision, similar to hitting a coin-size target from miles away while both points are in motion. We’ll test our work on this technology in 2027 when we put two satellites in orbit,” Google concluded.