Google will send a prototype satellite carrying four Tensor Processing Units into low Earth orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission as part of Project Suncatcher. The test payload, developed with Planet, is expected to lift off from Vandenberg next week and will assess how the company’s AI hardware withstands launch vibrations, radiation and extreme thermal conditions.
The mission is an early step in Google’s longer-term concept for solar-powered AI infrastructure in orbit, but it is not intended to demonstrate an operational orbital data centre. Google has already completed ground testing on the chips and cooling concepts, although it says some performance questions can only be answered in space.
Project Suncatcher’s first flight is designed to gather in-orbit data on the behaviour of the hardware rather than deliver commercial computing services. A follow-on satellite test involving laser links is planned for 2027 as the programme moves toward inter-satellite connectivity for future orbital clusters.