Google launches AI chips into orbit to test space data centers

Google launched its AI chips into space for the first time on Thursday, sending four Tensor Processing Units aboard a refrigerator-sized Planet Labs satellite via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to test if AI data centres could run in orbit on solar power. The satellite, part of Project Suncatcher, will run Google's Gemma AI model in 15-minute bursts due to heat and power limits, with CEO Sundar Pichai marking the milestone on X. The mission aims to last a year, testing whether solar panels in low Earth orbit can generate up to eight times more energy than on the ground. Google envisions clusters of 81 laser-linked satellites, but radiation and cooling remain key challenges, and the company says space data centres are at least five years from being cost-effective, with launch prices needing to fall to about $200 per kilogram by 2035.