Google Project Suncatcher tests chips in space

Google has been dedicating years of effort to embed artificial intelligence into mobile phones, laptops, search engines and data centers. But next week, it plans to put artificial intelligence hardware in space!

Indeed, the company is preparing to launch a prototype satellite carrying the company’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) as part of Project Suncatcher, an experiment that examines whether large-scale AI computing could eventually work in orbit. While there is no data center in orbit yet, Google is taking the first significant step toward seeing if it could actually happen.

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The hardware is expected to be transported into space on SpaceX's Transporter-18 mission. Google developed the initial mission in partnership with the company Planet, and the goal is pretty simple: put the AI ​​hardware into low Earth orbit to observe the results. Of course, a lot could go wrong.

The launch of the chips themselves is a problem. A rocket launch will expose the hardware to intense vibrations and accelerations of up to 10 times Earth's gravity, with individual components likely to experience pressures of 50 to 100 g. Google says it subjected the satellite to three-axis vibration tests to simulate these conditions, and the hardware withstood them.

Radiation is another concern, as Earth's atmosphere provides protection that electronic systems don't have in space. Solar activity and cosmic rays can affect the operation of chips, potentially causing errors such as bit flips — an issue that could obviously be problematic if the chips are running artificial intelligence processes.

Google tested its Trillium TPUs using proton beams at UC Davis' Crocker Nuclear Physics Laboratory while running artificial intelligence tasks. According to the company, the chips withstood a total dose of ionizing radiation greater than they would be expected to receive during a five-year mission.

Cooling the AI ​​hardware is another major challenge. While the process is already difficult in conventional data centers, placing the chips in a vacuum environment completely eliminates airflow, meaning Google can't use the cooling systems it uses on Earth.

Project Suncatcher is experimenting with the use of heat transfer pipes. Google is already testing the technology in a thermal vacuum chamber designed to simulate space conditions, but the upcoming mission will show how the cooling system behaves in real-world conditions.

It sounds like a science fiction scenario, but next week's launch is expected to give Google something much more useful than simulations: real data from artificial intelligence chips operating in space. This will help determine which parts of Project Suncatcher are realistic and which need more work.

Of course, proving that a TPU can survive in orbit is very different from proving that AI infrastructures in orbit are viable. The cost of launch, repairs, equipment replacement, cooling, networking, and the sheer complexity of maintaining computers hundreds of miles above Earth could make the idea impractical.

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