Google launched its first space-based data center satellite, Project Suncatcher, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket earlier this month. The satellite carries four Google Tensor Processing Units and generates up to 1 kW of electricity. The on-board Google DeepMind Gemma 4 model successfully generated a haiku about being in space in response to a ground prompt.
The TPU can only operate for about 20 minutes at a time due to the satellite’s power constraints. Google plans to launch two more satellites equipped with advanced chips in 2027 to support higher power generation and inter-satellite optical links. The current test campaign will evaluate how the TPUs perform under thermal stress and the real radiation environment of space. Radiation in space can cause ‘bit flips’ that corrupt data, a risk Google previously assessed as minimal for inference workloads. Google tested the satellite’s subsystems for about three weeks before the model was activated. Google spokespersons stated that the satellite is operating nominally following the successful commissioning process. The Suncatcher project is distinct in its plan for high-speed links between satellites to support coherent distributed workloads.
