Google Launches AI Chips Into Orbit To Test Data Centres In Space
0:00 / 0:35
News
Google Launches AI Chips Into Orbit To Test Data Centres In Space
calendar_today Date:
schedule Duration: 0:35
database
Summary Report
Project Suncatcher's first satellite carries four Google TPUs into orbit on October 1 to test space-based AI data centres.
- 01. MVP satellite with four TPUs, about one server's worth of compute, launches October 1 on a Falcon 9
- 02. Tests launch, radiation and thermal survival; NYT reports plans for 80+ networked satellites
Google's Project Suncatcher launches its first satellite on October 1: a refrigerator-sized prototype called MVP carrying four custom Tensor Processing Units, roughly one data-centre server's worth, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg. It tests whether the chips survive launch, radiation and orbital temperature swings. The New York Times reports a longer-term plan for a formation of more than 80 networked satellites and a custom satellite the length of a football pitch.
