Google plans Project Suncatcher’s first in-orbit test next week, launching a prototype satellite on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare with Planet Labs to assess whether its Tensor Processing Units can operate reliably despite launch forces, radiation and extreme temperatures.
The mission is meant to gather data and identify potential failure points, not demonstrate an operational orbital data center. Google will also test a cooling design that combines heat pipes and radiators, and says it has already tested the chips running AI workloads at a University of California, Davis facility.
Google aims to launch two satellites in 2027 to test high-bandwidth laser links for connecting future computing clusters. Experts have said commercial viability remains years away because of high launch costs, engineering constraints and satellite-production bottlenecks.
