Google’s planned satellite launch set to test TPUs in space

Google has announced plans to launch a prototype satellite next week as part of its Project Suncatcher initiative, aimed at studying the potential for large-scale AI computing infrastructure in space. The first in-orbit test will be conducted aboard the Transporter-18 rideshare mission with SpaceX, in partnership with Planet. The satellite will gather data on how Google's tensor processing units (TPUs) handle the physical stress, radiation, and thermal extremes of spaceflight.

Initial tests have shown that Google's Trillium TPUs can withstand radiation total ionising doses greater than what they would receive during a five-year space mission. However, the real test lies in how the TPUs perform once in orbit, as the team hopes to gather data and learnings to inform future launches.

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