AI
Google puts TPUs in orbit to test the case for space-based AI compute
Google has launched a prototype satellite carrying its Trillium TPUs, a first step in a research moonshot it calls Project Suncatcher. The company published a preprint describing solar-powered satellites in dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbit, linked by free-space optical lasers, and reported proton-beam tests in which the chips withstood nearly three times the expected five-year radiation dose. Google says a panel in the right orbit can generate up to eight times more power than on Earth, and plans two prototype satellites with Planet by early 2027.