Google takes the AI data centre race to outer space
Project Suncatcher aims to put such facilities into space and harness the sun’s energy to power them
In a San Francisco lab, a team of technicians conducted tests on a refrigerator-sized satellite commissioned by Google for an ambitious project called Project Suncatcher. The aim of this project is to place AI data centers in space and utilize the sun's energy to power them. The satellite, named MVP, was subjected to a rigorous vibration test to ensure its components would withstand the rigors of space travel.
Despite the uncertainties surrounding the mission, James Manyika, Google's senior vice-president for research, expressed optimism about the results. The first step towards this goal is set to launch on October 1, when the MVP satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellite houses four specialized computer chips, known as tensor processing units, which have the computing power of a single server in a data center. However, the satellite's solar panels will only generate about 1 kilowatt of power, sufficient to test the hardware's resilience in space. Google acknowledges the challenges ahead, comparing the project to their early efforts in developing driverless cars.
Project Suncatcher, led by Blaise Aguera y Arcas, a Google vice-president and AI researcher, aims to overcome the hurdles of radiation in space and the costs of getting machines beyond Earth's atmosphere. The cooling system for the AI chips, which typically heat up during computations, employs a unique technique that does not rely on fans, as they are ineffective in the vacuum of space.
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