Google to send TPUs to space for solar-powered data centers
Google has launched a new research initiative called Project Suncatcher, which seeks to investigate the potential of scaling artificial intelligence (AI) computing in space through solar-powered satellite constellations equipped with Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).
“Inspired by our history of moonshots, from quantum computing to autonomous driving, Project Suncatcher is exploring how we could one day build scalable ML compute systems in space, harnessing more of the sun’s power (which emits more power than 100 trillion times humanity’s total electricity production),” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai, in a post on X, News.Az reports citing foreign media.`
The project, led by Travis Beals, senior director of Paradigms of Intelligence at Google, proposes a system where solar-powered satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) perform machine learning (ML) workloads while communicating through free-space optical links.
“Space may be the best place to scale AI compute,” Beals said in a statement. “In the right orbit, a solar panel can be up to 8 times more productive than on Earth, and produce power nearly continuously, reducing the need for batteries.”
According to a preprint paper released alongside the announcement — Towards a future space-based, highly scalable AI infrastructure system design — the initiative focuses on building modular, interconnected satellite networks that can function like data centres in orbit.
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