Google launches satellite to test AI chips in orbit

Google has launched a prototype satellite carrying four of its artificial-intelligence chips to test how they operate in orbit, an early research step toward assessing whether computing infrastructure could someday be built in space. The satellite is part of Project Suncatcher, a Google research effort, and was built with Planet Labs. Google said it had made contact with the spacecraft after launch and that it was operating as expected. The satellite rode to orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission from California. Google plans to collect data on how the chips, called Tensor Processing Units, respond to spaceflight, radiation and temperature extremes. The mission is intended to establish how the hardware performs in an environment that cannot be fully replicated by ground testing; it does not demonstrate a commercial space-based data center. The prototype is reported to carry four TPUs and run computing tasks in limited bursts. Sources describe 15-minute operating periods, with heat and power management constraining how long the chips can run. Google is also testing ways to move heat away from the hardware, including heat pipes and radiators.