The space data center takes the first step: Google AI chip goes to heaven!

Kuai Technology reported on October 2 that the first prototype satellite of Google’s parent company Alphabet’s Sun Catcher program has been successfully put into orbit by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Google officially confirmed that it has established communication with the satellite and the equipment is operating normally. The launch mission Transporter-18 was carried out at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:32 a.m. on October 1, Pacific time (2:32 a.m. on October 2, Beijing time). The first-stage rocket successfully landed in the LZ-4 landing zone. This was the 25th flight of the B1082 first-stage. A total of 130 satellites were deployed in this ride-sharing mission. The prototype refrigerator-sized satellite equipped with Google's TPU tensor processing unit was built by Planet Labs and was deployed 1 hour, 1 minute and 25 seconds after launch. It is equipped with 4 Google TPU chips inside. This is the first on-orbit test of Google's Project Suncatcher, which was first revealed in November 2025 to develop AI computing infrastructure powered by solar energy. In the following weeks, Google will collect actual measurement data of TPU in the space environment, including the performance of emission vibration, space radiation and heat dissipation methods. Low-Earth orbit satellites can receive near-constant sunlight and generate up to eight times more solar energy than on Earth. The ultimate goal is to connect multiple satellite constellations to process larger-scale AI workloads in orbit. SpaceX itself also plans to deploy space supercomputing in 2027 and cooperate with Tesla to produce satellites equipped with GPUs and solar panels. However, the industry pointed out that it still faces multiple challenges such as launch costs, radiation resistance and space debris.