Google's Project Suncatcher readies its first test of AI chips in orbit (opens the source in a new tab)
- Google says Project Suncatcher is scheduled for its first orbital test, with the first TPUs going into orbit next week.
- A prototype satellite built with partner Planet will fly on SpaceX's Transporter-18 rideshare.
- The test will evaluate how Google's Tensor Processing Units perform in space.
- Up to 8×
- More solar power in low Earth orbit than on Earth, per Google
- 2027
- Next milestone: two satellites to test laser links
- Up to 10 g
- Launch loads; individual chips can see 50–100 g
- 5 years
- Trillium TPUs survived a radiation dose greater than a five-year mission's (initial results)
Why it matters Suncatcher is a long-term research moonshot exploring whether space could one day host scalable machine-learning infrastructure. Ground tests included shaking the satellite on three axes and running AI workloads in a proton beam at UC Davis's Crocker Nuclear Laboratory. Cooling is a key open problem: in a vacuum there is no airflow, so heat can only be shed through radiators.
Watch next How the new TPU cooling system performs in orbit, and the 2027 test of high-bandwidth, short-range laser links between two satellites.
Source:Google (free to read) ↗