Google plans to launch a prototype satellite carrying its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) next week on a SpaceX Falcon 9, testing their performance in orbit and whether they can withstand spaceflight, radiation and extreme temperature swings.
Google said satellites in low Earth orbit can access near-constant sunlight, generating up to eight times more solar power than on Earth. It said multiple satellite constellations could eventually be linked to handle larger AI workloads in orbit.
Google identified cooling orbital data centers and enabling very high-bandwidth communication over extremely short distances as engineering hurdles. The company said the first launch is intended to show what works, identify failures and inform future missions.
