Google's “Project Suncatcher” will deploy a prototype of an orbital data center at the beginning of next year to test its tolerance to the environment of near-Earth orbit space travel.

Google plans to launch an experimental prototype of the “Project Suncatcher” project on March 1st. This is part of Google’s efforts to build a constellation of AI data centers. At that time, a satellite equipped with a custom-designed tensor processing unit (“TPU”) will be sent into low Earth orbit to test its performance.

This prototype test in space is named MVP and is very important for Google's "moon landing-style" project. This project explores whether a group of interconnected AI data centers, floating in low Earth orbit, can become an alternative to high-power-consuming ground data centers.

The senior director in charge of the project, Project Suncatcher, also known as person in charge Travis Beals, stated in a video introducing the project: "On the right track, the electricity generated by solar panels can be 5 to 8 times that of similar panels on Earth." Part of the reason for this is a 'sunrise-sunset orbit' that allows them to receive sunlight almost continuously.

This concept aims to generate electricity from the sun almost around the clock and take advantage of the cooling properties of space, and has attracted the attention of several large companies and startups, including Elon Musk's SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Starcloud supported by NVIDIA, as well as Orbital Inc.

Google's MVP satellite project was launched on March 1st as part of a Transporter-18 piggyback mission aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The goal is to observe whether the hardware and underlying systems can function and survive in space. For example, this test will collect data in orbit to determine whether Google's TPU can withstand the impact of rocket launch, as well as the subsequent radiation and extreme temperatures in space. Google stated that earlier vibration tests showed that its TPU can withstand forces up to 100gs.

Google's partner Planet designed custom packaging to help the payload survive the bumpy journey into orbit.

Planet System Engineering Director Eric Stevens explained in another video: 'It only takes 10 minutes to travel to low Earth orbit by rocket. During this time, the spacecraft is subjected to intense vibrations and a continuous acceleration load that is up to 10 times the force of gravity. A single component, such as a AI chip, can actually withstand forces equivalent to 50 to 100Gs.'

This test will not involve the complete data center satellites envisioned by Google. According to The New York Times, this refrigerator-sized MVP prototype will be equipped with 4 dedicated TPU, which have a computing power equivalent to that of a server in a data center, and will only be powered by 1 kilowatt of electricity. Google expects that future orbital data centers will each be powered by dozens of TPU, flying in formation and interconnected with each other.

The New York Times states that the upcoming tests will "answer simple AI queries and will run for a year."

Google will also test connectivity capabilities, as well as how to cool TPU in space, including the use of radiative cooling technology. While this is not new for spacecraft, the real challenge lies in how to achieve large-scale cooling for the concentrated heat sources of TPU.

Beals wrote in a blog post about the upcoming experiment: "We are exploring various methods, including combinations of heat pipes and radiators, to cool the chip." He told The New York Times that Google's TPU can operate in space for about 15 minutes before it needs to be turned off for cooling.

Beals wrote: 'We will test this work when we send two satellites into orbit in 2027.'

The Suncatcher project is not the only one focusing on space data centers. SpaceX plans to launch “up to” 1 million orbital AI data satellites as part of its “Starmind” initiative. SpaceX hopes to begin deployment in the fourth quarter of 2027 and start scaling up in 2028.

Blue Origin also plans to build an orbital data center platform, which will consist of nearly 52,000 satellites.

Startup Orbital Inc recently submitted a plan to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), intending to launch as many as 100,000 AI data center satellites, with the ultimate goal of providing 10 gigawatts of orbital computing power.