Google is set to launch an experimental satellite, named MVP, into orbit next week to test running an AI data center in space. As part of a wider initiative called Project Suncatcher, the satellite will be aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket when it launches from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Once in space, and assuming everything goes well, the tech on board the satellite will be capable of handling simple AI requests from space.

The New York Times points out that while the move is an important one, the satellite will be limited in terms of its processing power. It will feature just four Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and be similar to a single Earth-bound server in terms of capabilities. It will be powered by solar panels capable of providing a single kilowatt of power to the tensor chips.

While clearly limited, the orbiting server is set to handle AI requests for up to a year, although it will remain in orbit for up to six years. After that, gravity will take hold, and the satellite will burn up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

Before that happens, James Manyika, Google's senior vice president of research, expects to learn more about how space may become a home for future data centers, though probably not for a long time.

“We don’t expect, to be perfectly frank, that we’ll have anything usefully operational in the next few years,” the SVP told the Times . " The idea of users accessing a version of Gemini running in space is some way from coming to fruition.

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