Google sends 4 TPUs into space, launching aboard SpaceX on October 1.

Beating AI News Flash: Google is preparing to send the first experimental satellite of its "space AI data center" research project, Project Suncatcher, into low Earth orbit. It will launch aboard SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission, bringing TPUs into a real space environment for testing for the first time.

The satellite, built with participation from Planet, is about the size of a refrigerator and carries 4 TPUs. It is not yet a complete "space data center"; its main purpose is to test whether the chips can withstand launch vibrations, space radiation, and extreme temperatures.

There is no air in space, so heat dissipation is also a challenge. The TPUs can only run continuously for about 15 minutes at a time, after which they need to stop for cooling.

The long-term goal of Project Suncatcher is to send large numbers of TPU-equipped satellites into space and then interconnect them at high speed with lasers to form a distributed AI data center. Google plans to launch two more satellites in 2027 to test inter-satellite connections.