Google is putting its AI TPUs through their first in-orbit test to see whether they can withstand radiation, launch forces and thermal challenges for future space-based computing.
Google is moving its Project Suncatcher concept from ground research to an in-orbit semiconductor test, with a prototype satellite scheduled to launch on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission in partnership with Planet. The mission will test whether Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) can reliably operate in space.
“After years of research, Project Suncatcher is scheduled to embark on its first test in orbit, launching a prototype satellite to evaluate how Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) perform in space,” said Travis Beals, Senior Director, Paradigms of Intelligence, Google.
The TPUs will face launch vibration and acceleration, radiation, and extreme thermal and vacuum conditions. Google says individual components can experience forces of 50–100 g during launch. The company has already conducted three-axis vibration tests and exposed Trillium TPUs to proton beams at UC Davis’s Crocker Nuclear Laboratory. Initial results indicated the chips could withstand radiation exceeding that expected during a five-year space mission.
Cooling remains another challenge because there is no airflow in space. Google is testing heat pipes and radiators in a thermal-vacuum chamber to dissipate TPU-generated heat.
The long-term concept involves satellites carrying dozens of TPUs and operating in interconnected clusters. Google says LEO satellites can access near-constant sunlight and potentially generate up to eight times more solar power than on Earth.
High-bandwidth laser communication will also be tested, with a two-satellite mission planned for 2027. Google says the project remains a research programme rather than an operational orbital data centre.
