Google has scheduled an Oct. 1 launch of a prototype satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base to test whether its AI chips can operate in space; the experimental payload is not a full data center.
Google said initial testing showed its Trillium TPUs could survive a radiation dose greater than what they would receive during a five-year space mission. The company also tested chip cooling in a thermal-vacuum chamber, which simulates conditions in space.
Google says low Earth orbit offers near-constant sunlight and could generate up to eight times more solar power than on Earth. It plans to test high-bandwidth laser links between two satellites in 2027. Senior vice president James Manyika told The New York Times he does not expect anything usefully operational in the next few years.
