- Google plans to install AI data centers in orbit using solar-powered satellite constellations
- Each Suncatcher satellite would operate in a sun-synchronous low earth orbit for continuous solar exposure
- Bench tests achieved 1.6 terabits per second between transceivers under controlled conditions
Google’s “Project Suncatcher” introduces an ambitious idea: placing fully functional AI data centers in orbit.
These orbital platforms would consist of a constellation of compact satellites operating in a sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit between dawn and dusk, designed to capture nearly continuous sunlight.
Each device would house machine learning hardware, including TPUs, powered by solar energy collected more efficiently than on Earth.
A radical concept for orbital computing
The configuration aims to reduce reliance on heavy energy storage and to test whether computing beyond Earth’s atmosphere can be both scalable and sustainable.
The research team proposes inter-satellite communication at bandwidths comparable to terrestrial data centers.
By using multi-channel dense wavelength-division multiplexing and spatial multiplexing, the satellites could theoretically achieve tens of terabits per second. second.
To close the signal strength gap, the satellites would fly within just hundreds of meters of each other, enabling data transfer rates that a bench-scale sample has already demonstrated at 1.6 Tbps.
However, maintaining such dense formations requires complex orbital control, modeled using the Hill-Clohessy-Wiltshire equations and refined numerical simulations to counteract gravitational and atmospheric effects.
According to Google, its Trillium Cloud TPU v6e under 67 MeV proton exposure revealed no critical damage, even at doses far exceeding expected orbital levels.
The most sensitive components, high-bandwidth memory subsystems, showed only minor irregularities.
This finding suggests that existing TPU architectures, with limited modification, could withstand low-Earth orbital conditions for longer missions.
However, economic viability remains uncertain, although expected reductions in launch costs may make implementation plausible.
If prices fall below $200 per kilogram by the mid-2030s, the cost of launching and maintaining space-based data centers may approach parity with ground-based facilities when measured per kilowatt-year.
Yet this assumes long-term reliability and minimal service requirements, both of which remain untested at scale.
Despite the promising signals, many aspects of Project Suncatcher rest on theoretical modeling rather than field validation.
The upcoming partnership with Planet, to deploy two prototype satellites in 2027, will test optical interconnects and TPU performance under real orbit conditions.
Whether these orbit facilities can transition from research experiment to operational infrastructure depends on continued advances in energy management, communications stability, and cost-effectiveness.
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