Google's AI satellite beams haiku from orbit in space datacenter test

Google's experimental orbital AI satellite, Suncatcher, transmitted a haiku from space on Friday, marking its first successful inference response from low Earth orbit. The poem was generated by an onboard Gemma 4 model after a ground station prompt. The haiku, sent as the satellite passed over Svalbard, Norway, cost roughly $0.000012 in cloud API fees, but the total expense is far higher when factoring in launch costs. Google estimates the satellite's launch price at around $7,000 per kg, making the 20-token poem extremely expensive. Google views this as a strategic prototype for future space-based datacenters, predicting launch costs could drop to $200/kg by 2035. The company plans further tests on thermal stress and radiation, with a pair of interconnected satellites slated for next year.