Google is sending the first batch of its AI chips to space next week on a SpaceX rocket to see how the TPUs handle the physical stress of spaceflight and the radiation and temperature extremes of space.
Google announced its Project Suncatcher space-based data center plan last November. The goal is to take advantage of the unlimited sunlight of space and to minimize the impact of data centers here on Earth. Next week, the first satellite is going up on the SpaceX Transporter-18 mission, Google announced yesterday.
The prototype satellite will test how Google’s AI chips—its Tensor Processing Units—perform in space, says Travis Beals, Google’s Senior Director, Paradigms of Intelligence, in the announcement.
Google has already conducted some testing here on Earth. The TPU chips were able to handle the level of vibration and acceleration that they would see during the launch, and be able to survive a bigger radiation dose than they would receive during a five-year space mission. In addition, the team has tested a cooling system—a combination of heat pipes and radiators—in a thermal vacuum chamber that simulates space.
“But some things can only be tested in space,” Beals adds. “Putting our first TPUs in orbit next week will help us get data and learnings to inform future launches.”
In the future, Google plans to have satellites carrying dozens of TPU chips each. The satellites will communicate with each other via lasers. “We’ll test our work on this in 2027 when we put two satellites in orbit,” Beals says.
Other companies, including SpaceX and Blue Origin, also have plans for space-based data centers, and several groups have already put AI models and chips in orbit.
READ MORE: Who’s in the data-center space race?
