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Google is sending a teensy-tiny AI data center to space

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Google is sending a teensy-tiny AI data center to space

It's an experiment to see how the chips hold up in the harsh vacuum of the cosmos.

Google's Project Suncatcher, which ultimately aims to put large AI installations in low-Earth orbit, is preparing for a milestone event. The company will be sending a teensy-tiny AI data center into space to see how it reacts to the harsh conditions, as reported by The New York Times.

A satellite named MVP will be aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch on October 1, where it will be placed into orbit. This isn't a full data center in the conventional sense. It's four specialized computer chips called "tensor processing units" which, combined, offer the power of a single server in a data center.

Project Suncatcher explores putting AI compute in orbit, powered by the sun. Soon, we'll be sending our first satellite into space to start testing that idea. It's a new approach to AI infrastructure.

Solar panels will supply just one kilowatt of power to juice the chips, which is equivalent to the energy needed to run a hair dryer. Google says this will be enough to test the hardware against the harsh conditions of space. The company plans to let the satellite answer simple AI queries for a year, though it will orbit Earth for six years before it burns up during a descent into the atmosphere.

These chips have undergone a battery of tests to simulate the void of space, including getting blasted with large amounts of radiation at Crocker Nuclear Laboratory.


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