Google's orbital AI data center test packs four TPUs and 1,000W of solar power

Google is set to launch an experimental satellite, named MVP, into orbit next week to test running an AI data center in space. As part of a wider initiative called Project Suncatcher, the satellite will be aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket when it launches from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Once in space, and assuming everything goes well, the tech on board the satellite will be capable of handling simple AI requests from space.

The New York Times points out that while the move is an important one, the satellite will be limited in terms of its processing power. It will feature just four Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and be similar to a single Earth-bound server in terms of capabilities. It will be powered by solar panels capable of providing a single kilowatt of power to the tensor chips.

While clearly limited, the orbiting server is set to handle AI requests for up to a year, although it will remain in orbit for up to six years. After that, gravity will take hold, and the satellite will burn up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

Before that happens, James Manyika, Google's senior vice president of research, expects to learn more about how space may become a home for future data centers, though probably not for a long time.

“We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years,” the SVP told the Times. He went on to compare the venture to Google's driverless cars, saying that Google was testing those "like 15 years before anything showed up." The idea of users accessing a version of Gemini running in space is some way from coming to fruition.

But it's also something that Google and other companies are set to investigate further. Alongside Google, Elon Musk (xAI, Tesla, SpaceX), as well as Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Sam Altman (OpenAI), have been making noises about the prospect of orbital data centers for some time now. China has already put its own AI compute into orbit. Even Intel has a patent for orbital data centers of its own.

Putting servers into space does have its issues, not least the problem of getting them there. Radiation and computers don't get along, and the radiation found in space can cause "bit flips" that change the way chips process data. Google's answer, for now, is to restart the chips every so often to reset them. The company has also devised a cooling system that will vent heat directly into space — since the usual fan-based solution simply won't work without any air.

Despite these accommodations, the four chips in Google's test satellite will still get too hot, too quickly. They'll only be able to run for around 15 minutes before they need to be shut down to allow them to cool off.

Regardless, it's still early days for the concept of running servers in space. Google plans to launch a pair of satellites next, with long-term plans for networked fleets of more than 80 satellites also already floated.

By Manyika's estimation, Google has 15 years to go from a four-chip server to a full-on data center. The clock is ticking.

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