Google lately unveiled Mission Suncatcher, a analysis “moonshot” aiming to construct a knowledge middle in area. The tech large plans to make use of a constellation of solar-powered satellites which might run by itself TPU chips and transmit knowledge to 1 one other by way of lasers.
Google’s TPU chips (tensor processing models), that are specifically designed for machine studying, are already powering Google’s newest AI mannequin, Gemini 3. Mission Suncatcher will discover whether or not they may be tailored to outlive radiation and temperature extremes and function reliably in orbit. It goals to deploy two prototype satellites into low Earth orbit, some 400 miles above the Earth, in early 2027.
Google’s rivals are additionally exploring space-based computing. Elon Musk has mentioned that SpaceX “will likely be doing knowledge facilities in area,” suggesting that the following era of Starlink satellites could possibly be scaled as much as host such processing. A number of smaller companies, together with a US startup known as Starcloud, have additionally introduced plans to launch satellites outfitted with the GPU chips (graphics processing models) which can be utilized in most AI techniques.
The logic of information facilities in area is that they keep away from lots of the points with their Earth-based equivalents, notably round energy and cooling. Area techniques have a a lot decrease environmental footprint, and it’s probably simpler to make them greater.
As Google CEO Sundar Pichai has mentioned: “We are going to ship tiny, tiny racks of machines and have them in satellites, check them out, after which begin scaling from there … There is no such thing as a doubt to me that, a decade or so away, we will likely be viewing it as a extra regular technique to construct knowledge facilities.”
Assuming Google does handle to launch a prototype in 2027, will it merely be a high-stakes technical experiment—or the dawning of a brand new period?
The Scale of the Problem
I wrote an article for The Dialog initially of 2025 laying out the challenges of placing knowledge facilities into area, wherein I used to be cautious about them taking place quickly.
Now, after all, Mission Suncatcher represents a concrete program fairly than simply an thought. This readability, with an outlined purpose, launch date, and {hardware}, marks a big shift.
The satellites’ orbits will likely be “solar synchronous,” that means they’ll all the time be flying over locations at sundown or dawn in order that they’ll seize daylight practically constantly. In response to Google, photo voltaic arrays in such orbits can generate considerably extra vitality per panel than typical installations on Earth as a result of they keep away from dropping daylight as a consequence of clouds and the ambiance, in addition to at night time.
The TPU checks will likely be fascinating. Whereas {hardware} designed for area usually must be closely shielded towards radiation and excessive temperatures, Google is utilizing the identical chips utilized in its Earth knowledge facilities.
The firm has already finished laboratory checks exposing the chips to radiation from a proton beam that recommend they’ll tolerate virtually thrice the dose they’ll obtain in area. That is very promising, however sustaining dependable efficiency for years, amidst photo voltaic storms, particles, and temperature swings is a far more durable check.
One other problem lies in thermal administration. On Earth, servers are cooled with air or water. In area, there is no such thing as a air and no simple technique to dissipate warmth. All warmth should be eliminated by radiators, which regularly turn into among the many largest and heaviest components of a spacecraft.
NASA research present that radiators can account for greater than 40 p.c of whole energy system mass at excessive energy ranges. Designing a compact system that may maintain dense AI {hardware} inside protected temperatures is likely one of the most tough elements of the Suncatcher idea.
An area-based knowledge middle should additionally replicate the excessive bandwidth, low latency community cloth of terrestrial knowledge facilities. If Google’s proposed laser communication system (optical networking) goes to work on the multi-terabit capability required, there are main engineering hurdles concerned.
These embody sustaining the mandatory alignment between fast-moving satellites and dealing with orbital drift, the place satellites transfer out of their supposed orbit. The satellites may even should maintain dependable floor hyperlinks again on Earth and ovecome climate disruptions. If an area data-center is to be viable for the long run, will probably be very important that it avoids early failures.
Upkeep is one other unresolved subject. Terrestrial knowledge facilities depend on continuous {hardware} servicing and upgrades. In orbit, repairs would require robotic servicing or further missions, each of that are expensive and sophisticated.
Then there may be the uncertainty round economics. Area-based computing turns into viable solely at scale, and provided that launch prices fall considerably. Google’s Mission Suncatcher paper means that launch prices might drop under $200 (£151) per kilogram by the mid 2030s, seven or eight occasions cheaper than immediately. That will put development prices on par with some equal services on Earth. But when satellites require early substitute or if radiation shortens their lifespan, the numbers might look fairly completely different.
In brief, a two-satellite check mission by 2027 sounds believable. It might validate whether or not TPUs survive radiation and thermal stress, whether or not solar energy is secure, and whether or not the laser communication system performs as anticipated.
Nevertheless, even a profitable demonstration would solely be step one. It might not present that large-scale orbital knowledge facilities are possible. Full-scale techniques would require fixing all of the challenges outlined above. If adoption happens in any respect, it’s more likely to unfold over many years.
For now, space-based computing stays what Google itself calls it, a moonshot: formidable and technically demanding, however one that would reshape the way forward for AI infrastructure, to not point out our relationship with the cosmos round us.
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