SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Google plans to launch an experimental satellite on Oct. 1 to test whether its artificial intelligence chips can operate in orbit, an early step in its effort to develop solar-powered computing systems in space. The mission is part of Project Suncatcher, a research program Google announced last year.
The satellite, called MVP, will carry four of Google’s tensor processing units, or TPUs, aboard a SpaceX rocket. Planet built the spacecraft in partnership with Google. With roughly one kilowatt of power from its solar panels, the satellite will run limited AI workloads while engineers study how the chips perform in orbit. It is a hardware test, not a full data center.
Google said the satellite passed a ground vibration test designed to simulate the shaking of a rocket launch. The company also exposed its TPUs to radiation at the University of California, Davis. Those tests showed the chips could withstand more radiation than Google expects them to receive over a five-year mission, but an orbital test will reveal how they perform under actual space conditions.
Heat remains another obstacle. Without air to carry heat away, the satellite must move it from the chips to a radiator. Google plans to run AI workloads in bursts of about 15 minutes before shutting the chips down to cool, according to Ars Technica.
Google’s longer-term proposal calls for clusters of solar-powered satellites that exchange data through laser links. The company and Planet also plan to launch two satellites in 2027 to test how spacecraft can work together in orbit. Google has not announced a date for a commercial space-based data center.
