Project Suncatcher:
Google announced a new research initiative called Project Suncatcher
- It is a research initiative exploring how constellations of solar-powered satellites could host data centres in space.
- It is an initiative of Google.
- Google aims to deploy high-performance AI accelerators in space and build a space-based infrastructure.
- Project Suncatcher will build modular satellite arrays linked by high-speed free-space optical communication, supporting data transfer at tens of terabits per second.
- It will send AI data centers into space by launching solar-powered satellites equipped with its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), specialized AI chips.
- The plan includes launching two prototype satellites in partnership with Planet Labs by early 2027 to test the hardware’s durability and performance in space.
- The proposed system consists of a constellation of networked satellites, likely operating in a dawn–dusk sun-synchronous low earth orbit.
- Early tests have shown Google’s Trillium-generation TPUs withstand radiation at levels similar to those found in space.
