TechCrunch2 hours ago·4 min read·hard

Google thinks SpaceX’s Starship has to launch 1,600 times before space data centers get off the ground

Tim Fernholz

✦AI Summary

Google has launched a prototype orbital compute satellite containing a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) to test AI performance in space. The project, known as Suncatcher, aims to build a future network of satellites capable of parallel processing for space-based infrastructure.

Why it matters

Testing AI hardware in orbit is a critical step toward creating decentralized, high-performance computing networks that operate outside of Earth's terrestrial infrastructure.

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Google’s prototype of its orbital compute satellite took off today onboard a SpaceX rocket launched from California — the first time the tech giant has sent one of its advanced chips into space.

Built by Planet Labs , the satellite will prove that a Google Tensor Processing Unit, its competitor to Nvidia’s GPUs, can function in space. That means supplying a kilowatt of continuous power, cooling the chip, and running a series of models through their paces to see if anything goes wrong.

“We’ve done testing on the ground, but you know, there’s no test that’s completely as good as the real thing,” said Travis Beals, the Google executive managing Project Suncatcher , the tech giant’s plan to develop large-scale compute clusters in orbit around the Earth.

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