Google will soon be one step closer to getting AI data centers up and running in outer space.

The tech giant announced Thursday that its Project Suncatcher will launch a prototype satellite into low Earth orbit next week to test how well Google Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) hold up under the rough conditions of space.

“This first launch is about seeing what works, identifying points of failure, and applying those findings to future missions,” the company said in a blog post.

Project Suncatcher is Google’s long-term research moonshot, first announced last year, exploring whether massive AI computing infrastructure could eventually operate in space.

The basic idea is that satellites packed with AI chips could one day take advantage of near-constant sunlight for power and communicate with each other using lasers to handle large AI workloads. Google says satellites in low Earth orbit could generate up to eight times more solar power than on Earth.

This could help ease some of the energy and environmental issues facing terrestrial data centers, which are seeing growing backlash on Earth.

Google is far from alone in looking to space as a solution. Companies like SpaceX and Starcloud are also exploring orbital data centers. Starcloud launched an Nvidia H100 GPU into orbit in November 2025. SpaceX, meanwhile, made space-based AI infrastructure a major part of its IPO pitch earlier this year.

As for Google, its prototype satellite will hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission next week. Developed with aerospace company Planet Labs, the mission will send four Google TPUs into orbit for the first time.

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