The satellite is known as MVP and its launch will allow Google to test whether its objective - to run an AI data center from space - can become reality. Operating with only 1 kilowatt of power, the solar-powered satellite is offering a trial run of Google's TPUs, or tensor processing units, to determine whether they can survive the harsh conditions of space temperatures and radiation. Their high energy consumption means that the TPUs will only be operating for 15 minutes at a time.
This experimental space-based data center marks the dawn of Project Suncatcher, which Google ultimately sees as a space-based network of AI satellites flying in close proximity, communicating with one another over laser links much like those used by the Starlink network from SpaceX.
Google hopes to have two such satellites launched sometime in 2027.
