Google’s Next AI Data Center Might Be in Outer Space. The First Test Launches Next Week.

AI data centers aren’t exactly famous downward current on Earth. Ask Kevin O’Leary, who had to shrink his Utah project after fierce local pushback. A UMass Amherst poll this duration established lone 1 in 9 Americans assistance one going up in their community.

So, Google is scouting a place no NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) can reach. The business volition initiate a prototype moon into area next week carrying its Tensor Processing Units, the tradition chips rearward its AI services, according to Reuters. It’s the archetypal in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, a investigation attempt exploring whether enormous AI computing clusters could one day run on satellites.

But the genuine petition of external area is power. Solar panels in low Earth orbit can collect up to eight times additional energy than panels on the ground, according to Google. SpaceX and Starcloud are chasing the identical idea.

The satellite, launching in alliance alongside Planet Labs, volition hitch a journey on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare launch. Google wants to see how the chips last initiate forces, extreme temperatures and radiation, which can logic bit flips (data errors inner the hardware). It volition additionally test a cooling scheme of warmth pipes and radiators, since airflow cooling doesn’t activity in a vacuum.

Don’t anticipate an orbital data center to fountain up overnight. Experts say they remain years from business viability. In the meantime, Google plans two additional satellites in 2027 to test laser links between forthcoming computing clusters.

AI data centers aren’t exactly famous downward current on Earth. Ask Kevin O’Leary, who had to shrink his Utah project after fierce local pushback. A UMass Amherst poll this duration established lone 1 in 9 Americans assistance one going up in their community.

So, Google is scouting a place no NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) can reach. The business volition initiate a prototype moon into area next week carrying its Tensor Processing Units, the tradition chips rearward its AI services, according to Reuters. It’s the archetypal in-orbit test of Project Suncatcher, a investigation attempt exploring whether enormous AI computing clusters could one day run on satellites.

But the genuine petition of external area is power. Solar panels in low Earth orbit can collect up to eight times additional energy than panels on the ground, according to Google. SpaceX and Starcloud are chasing the identical idea.

The satellite, launching in alliance alongside Planet Labs, volition hitch a journey on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare launch. Google wants to see how the chips last initiate forces, extreme temperatures and radiation, which can logic bit flips (data errors inner the hardware). It volition additionally test a cooling scheme of warmth pipes and radiators, since airflow cooling doesn’t activity in a vacuum.

Don’t anticipate an orbital data center to fountain up overnight. Experts say they remain years from business viability. In the meantime, Google plans two additional satellites in 2027 to test laser links between forthcoming computing clusters.